


August Fluff Challenge

by Fairia



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-10 09:06:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 55,986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11688459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fairia/pseuds/Fairia
Summary: A series of drabbles and one-shots done for August's ML Fluff Month. So sweet you'll get sick and vomit rainbows.





	1. Blush

**Author's Note:**

> Written in response to the ML Fluff Month challenge. 
> 
> https://miraculousfluffmonth.tumblr.com/post/163640416471/miraculousfluffmonth-miraculous-fluff-month
> 
> Prompt 1: Blush

The sun was shining, it was a Friday, and a fight was brewing at Collège Françoise Dupont. 

“You’re weak, Nino. _Weak_.” Adrien shook his head pityingly. 

“I am not!” Nino snapped. “Just because we don’t all have some insane stupid workout schedule like you do, does not make me weak.”

“The fitness assessment was last week, and you’re _still whining_.” Adrien replied. “So either _prove_ you’re not weak, or accept it and _quit sulking_.”

He _had_ been whining for the past week, Nino could admit privately. And when even Adrien was getting annoyed, it probably was time to quit. But Adrien’s annoyance was only amplifying Nino’s bad mood, so the situation between the two boys quietly escalated.

Alya and Marinette were wisely staying out of it. Hell, they hadn’t even really spoken to each other, and were just watching him and Adrien argue, eyes swinging back and forth like it was a damn tennis match or something.

“Prove it _how_.” Nino demanded. “And I am _not_ going to race Kim.”

“Well, we know you can’t run.” Adrien taunted. “You proved _that_ last week. What about...arm wrestling. That’s nice and manly, right?”

Nino licked his lips speculatively, and Adrien rolled his eyes. “Wuss.”

Oh, that tore it. Calling him a wuss in front of the girls was just _not cool_.

“Fine.” Nino snapped. “If I win, you have to… to eat gigantic, greasy, manly fast food meal. Quad stacked cheeseburger, fries _and_ a large soda.”

Adrien’s brow furrowed. “My dad will _kill_ me.”

“ _Wuss_.” Nino hissed.

Adrien’s eyes narrowed, and Nino felt a spike of satisfaction. Unfortunately, it was short-lived.

“Fine.” Adrien smirked. “If I win, you have to let me put a full face on you, and you have to wear it all day. _In school.”_

Nino paled. The makeup thing was still a hot button for Nino, and Adrien had no problem using it against him. A full year after that disastrous first makeup incident, Adrien _still_ wasn’t embarrassed about wearing makeup, no matter how embarrassed Nino was on his behalf. He would sit in class and chat with girls about different looks, and didn’t bat an eye at some of the downright strange looks he got from his fellow guys.

But he was too far in to back down now. “Done, but I’m not arm wrestling _you_. I’ve seen your workout routine. Pick someone else, and _not_ Kim or Alix, because they’re unnatural beasts.”

Adrien gave him a flat look that plainly said, without so many words, that he knew Nino was trying to stack the deck in his own favor.

“Deal.” Adrien drawled. He held Ninos’ gaze for one more deliberate second before glancing around the schoolyard to see who was nearby.

“Don’t even bring me into this.” Alya said when his gaze alighted on her. Adrien’s lips pursed, but turned to Marinette, who was sitting and eating her sandwich, sketchbook out but largely ignored as she watched the proceedings.

“How about it?” Adrien asked her. Marinette’s eyes widened comically as she squeaked, cheeks flushing in embarrassment and Nino felt a spike of satisfaction. If Adrien was going to waste his choice on _her_ , he had this in the bag.

“O- Oh. Me? Um, sure, I guess. Are you sure?” Marinette blinked owlishly at Adrien, who simply smiled back, causing Marinette to turn even _more_ red. In short order, Nino found himself back in the classroom, since the desks were a better width for this sort of thing than the picnic tables in the schoolyard.

“What are we doing?” Kim asked as the group sat down, Nino on one side of the desk and Marinette on the other.

“Bet.” Adrien replied. “Arm wrestling match.”

“Sweet!” Alix piped up.

“I get winner!” Kim demanded.

Nathaniel and Ivan were both in the room as well, and they also ambled over to watch the show.

“What are the terms?” Ivan asked.

“If I lose, I have to commit gastronomic suicide.” Adrien replied, before Nino could speak up. “If Nino loses, he has to wear makeup to school.”

“But...he’s wrestling _Marinette_.” Kim replied, pointing to the girl in question.

“Apparently,” Adrien drawled. “I have an unfair advantage because I work out regularly. So Marinette is my champion.”

Said “champion” squeaked in embarrassment, flushing a bright red as she looked down at the desk.

“Umm…Dude?” Kim said. “Are you sure? I mean, Alix could-”

“Don’t volunteer me for things!” Alix snapped, slugging Kim in the arm before turning to Adrien. “I could totally do this, you know.”

“Woman-!” Kim started, only to be silenced by the small girl’s glare.

“No thanks.” Adrien smiled.

“Yeah, you two were ruled out for the same reason Adrien himself was.” Alya said, phone out and set to record.

“Are we going to do this, or not?” Nino huffed, settling his elbow on the desk and holding his hand towards Marinette. Marinette blinked, took a deep breath, and set her elbow on the desk before grasping his hand.

“I’m ref!” Kim declared. “Ready? Okay! Three...two...one...go!”

Nino shoved, wanting to just slap Marinette’s hand onto the desk and get this over with. Marinette’s hand twitched, but didn’t otherwise move.

“...Are you guys even doing anything?” Alix asked after a few seconds.

Nino pushed harder, and Marinette’s hand twitched a little bit more. Grunting, Nino threw all of his strength behind the next push.

And his hand slapped the table.

“What the-” Nino stared in shock at Marinette’s dainty little hand with it’s baby pink fingernails resting innocently in his palm.

“Dude!” Kim exclaimed.

“You lose.” Adrien announced smugly.

Nino sat back groaning.

“Move it Nino!” Alix declared, coming around the desk to push him out of the chair. “Me next.”

“I already called winner!” Kim argued.

“Oh, um, that’s okay.” Marinette offered timidly. “I don’t really want to arm wrestle. Maybe Adrien does though?”

“Nope!” Alix chirped. “Girls first. Then if Adrien wants to play we can let him in.”

Marinette sighed and set her elbow on the table.

“I _will_ have the next winner.” Kim threatened. “Alright. Ready? Three..two..one..go!”

Marinette’s hand dipped a few centimeters before reversing course and slapping Alix’s hand against the desk. Alix gawked. Kim gawked. Ivan gawked. Alya was looking around her phone, eyebrows climbing into her hairline, and Adrien continued to smile smugly.

“ _Me_.” Kim said firmly.

Marinette sighed and rolled her eyes. “Last one. I mean it.”

“Yeah, yeah. Ivan, ref us.” Kim said.

Ivan stepped up to the desk. “Ready? Three, two, one, go!”

Marinette’s lips tightened as her hand dipped. Kim grunted with exertion.

And then his hand hit the desk.

Nino turned to glare at Adrien. “You knew she could do this.” He accused.

Adrien shot him an exasperated look. “How the could I have known that? Does she look that strong to you?”

“I’m done.” Marinette announced. “Someone else. Seriously.”

There was only ten minutes left for lunch anyway, so the group continued to arm wrestle, changing out as more people filtered into the classroom. By the time class started, the entire class was buzzing with the news that Marinette was a secret arm-wrestling beast, and that Nino would be wearing a full face of makeup in school on Monday.

“Sweet.” Juleka said. “What kind of face are you applying? Can I help?”

Nino groaned and dropped his head in his hands.

“Full model face.” Adrien replied, smirking. “We’re meeting up here at half six.”

“What?!” Nino squawked. “That’s a full hour before school starts.”

“And you’re going to need every minute of it, so don’t be late.” Adrien replied heartlessly, before turning back to Juleka. “Yeah, you can totally help - I love your wingtip applications. How do you think Nino would look with smokey eyes?”

Nino’s forehead hit the desk, and he bitterly regretted ever helping Adrien learn how to make friends.


	2. Goodnight Kisses

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette can't stop the sass, and Chat can't back down from a challenge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 2: Goodnight Kisses

Chat leaned forward, bumping his nose against Marinette’s shoulder affectionately. “I need to go.”

“It’s Friday.” Marinette mumbled sleepily, tightening her grip on his hands where they wound around her waist. Instead, she squirmed further up his body, in a move that would have been provocative had they not been mostly-asleep. The movie they had been watching had returned to the title menu, and it was late - almost midnight. “No school.”

“Nope.” Chat agreed, jiggling his hands a bit, hoping she would get the hint and release him. She didn’t. “But I still have work in the morning.”

“That’s horrible.” Marinette’s hair caught on the breast pocket as she turned her face the nestle against the crook of his neck. “Inhumane. You should quit.”

“Sorry Princess, no can do.” Chat smiled. They were seated on the chaise in her room, which had helpfully been drug around to face her computer screen. Her parents had retired to bed soon after dinner - baker’s hours - but he and Marinette had decided to watch a movie before he left for the night. Somehow the most comfortable position to be in had been propped back against the chaise, Chat’s chin resting atop her head while she she lay between his legs, her shoulders resting comfortably against his ribs. A patchwork quilt (leftover scraps from other projects) was spread over them, and a bowl of grapes was within easy reach on the floor.

“Besides,” Chat added, “you’re kind of falling asleep on top of me. And my butt is going numb.”

“Party pooper.” Marinette yawned, her exhale ghosting across his throat.

“If this is your idea of a party…” Chat teased, prodding her with a clawed finger.

“What, you didn’t notice the streamers and balloons?” Marinette snarked, squirming and trying to swat his hand away.

“There’s only two people at your party.” Chat observed, jiggling his shoulder and grinning at her angry whine when her head bounced.

“I cater to an exclusive crowd.” Marinette grumbled. “Only snuggly people in cat suits allowed.”

“And it’s about to go down to a party of one. If you’re awake enough to sass, you’re awake enough to climb in your bed.” Chat insisted.

“No. Be my pillow.” Marinette replied.

“I can’t.” Chat said. “I really do have work, and Plagg can’t hold the transformation all night like that. You’ll wake up next to my civilian form, freak out and start screaming. And then you screaming will wake me up, and I’ll scream because you’re screaming, and then your parents will hear us screaming and come running upstairs, and _they’ll_ scream. And all that screaming will get the police called, and they’ll have to explain that we were all screaming because their daughter woke up with a strange boy in her bed, and that’s why she was screaming. Then I’ll be arrested for...a lot of things, probably, and be carted off to jail. And when my family comes to bail me out, there will be _more_ screaming and I’ll probably wish I could stay in jail, to avoid the screaming. So I can’t stay, because I don’t want to go to jail.”

Sometime during his speech, Marinette had sat up and turned to gape at him, eyes widening as his spiel continued. When he finished, Chat smiled at her smugly.

“I… I…” Marinette blinked at him, then screwed her eyes shut and shook her head. “I can’t even. Poor Alya.”

“Poor _Alya_?” Chat wondered if he’d head right. “What does she have to do with you using me as a pillow, and then me winding up in jail?”

“I just… that was the most convoluted bit of logic I’ve ever heard from someone who’s not me.” Marinette said simply. “Like, you went from point A, to point B, then to point Q and back to point F without missing a beat. No wonder Alya looks so confused when I start freaking out.”

“You’re welcome.” Chat nodded. “For the outside perspective. Now, can I please get up?”

Marinette sniggered. “Oh, the innuendos.”

“Pervert.” Chat flushed. “You know what I meant.”

“If you must.” Marinette sighed, sliding off the side of the chaise and stretching. “Want some grapes for the road?”

“No thanks.” Chat mimed her stretch, sighing in relief as his spine popped deliciously.

“That is so disturbing.” Marinette grumbled, her nose scrunching up at the sound.

“You’re just jealous.” Chat replied, climbing up the stairs to her loft and propping the skylight open. “Get in bed, Princess.”

“You gonna tuck me in?” Marinette teased, batting her eyelashes at him mockingly as she climbed onto her bed.

Chat looked down at her, and Marinette smirked. “That’s what I thought.” She said triumphantly, blowing him a mocking kiss. “Nighty-night, _chaton_.”

Now, as Adrien he might have blushed, stammered, and then stumbled his way outside, but right now he was Chat Noir. And Chat Noir never backed down from a challenge, especially when the person saying it called him “kitten” in such a mocking manner. Lowering the arms that had been poised to lift him out of the skylight, he smirked down at Marinette while she blinked at him in confusion.

Stepping off of her bed, he gestured for her to climb between the sheets, smirking at her wide eyes.

“Well, Princess?” He purred. “Do you want tucked in?”

Her eyes never left him as she scooted back, hesitantly tucking her feet under her duvet.

“Lay down.” Chat commanded, and if his voice was huskier than he had thought, he was going to blame it on the lateness of the hour and a lack of water.

Marinette’s eye widened further and she appeared bewildered as she lay back, propping herself on her elbows. Perversely, Chat was pleased. _‘Tease me, will she?’_

Stepping to her bedside, Chat smirked as he placed his palm on her collarbone and pushed her back onto the pillows. Still smirking, he drew her covers up and tucked them beneath her chin.

“Did you go potty?” He asked patronizingly. “Brush your teeth? Get a drink? Good girl.”

Bending over, he ruffled her hair affectionately. “Sweet dreams.” He wasn’t anticipating Marinette’s hand to snap out and grab his bell as he made to straighten up. Blinking, he looked back down into her scowling face, which, even as he watched, transformed into an expression of wide-eyed innocence.

“If you’re going to tuck me in like my parent, then I need a good night kiss.” Marinette said sweetly. “ _Dad_.”

_Dad?_ Chat’s eyebrows climbed upwards incredulously. “I am _not_ your dad.”

“Prove it.” Marinette snapped.

Chat wasn’t sure what he was thinking - later he would admit that he probably wasn’t. But the spunk, the challenge in her eyes and taunting smirk on her lips, was all too much and Chat leaned down and smashed his lips against hers. The kiss was rough, her mouth slack in shock as his own lips pressed harshly against them. He’d half-intended to peck her on the lips, smirk at her shocked silence, and leap out the window and away before she could recover and tease him further. But as soon as his lips met hers, that half-baked thought flew straight out the window...where he definitely wasn’t headed. Just as he was about to pull away, declare himself the winner and make his escape...errr, _victorious retreat_ , Marinette responded.

Pushing back, she angled her head to deepen the kiss, and her small, breathy sigh was his undoing as his lips parted under hers. Chat found himself leaning over her, a hand planted on either side of her head to stop himself from falling on top of her as her fingers wound into his hair to tug him closer. She whined as he pulled her bottom lip between his teeth, nipping gently, then sucking to soothe the ache.

He wasn’t sure how long they were like that - it was an eternity condensed into a few seconds - but eventually he pulled away, staring into her heavy-lidded blue eyes, hyper aware of the way their chests heaved from the exertion. He wasn’t sure what to say - they’d been friends for years, and even though there had been flirtations they’d never crossed the invisible line between that and something _more_. The normal mocking, teasing, and playfulness had irrevocably shifted, and he wasn’t sure what it meant for them.

“I…” Chat licked his lips, unsure. “I…”

“You’re right - I guess you’re _not_ my dad.” Marinette whispered, as smile tugging at her lips even as her eyes studied him uncertainly.

“I guess not.” Chat huffed out a soft laugh, then bent back over to press a gentle peck to her lips. “Good night, Princess.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be all cutesy and sweet, but my kids are literally running laps around the table screaming, jumping on the furniture, teasing the dog and shoving chips in my face as I try to type. That kind of bled over into the fic a bit.


	3. Cupboard Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Adrien proposes, and Nino's cheese slides off his cracker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ML Fluff month day 3: Sweets
> 
> Post-reveal. Adrien being a doofus is ridiculously fun to write.

Adrien wandered up the narrow aisle towards the register, his hand over his mouth to cover a jaw-cracking yawn. 

It had been a _long_ day. Up at three for a sunrise photo shoot, then school, then fencing, _then_ piano. His father was expecting him home to prepare for a business dinner with another fashion designer soon. They were collaborating on a young adult clothing line, and the man wanted to assess Adrien as the lead male model. It was going to be a long night, and Adrien couldn't risk falling asleep in his dinner, especially in front of an important guest. Plus, he still had homework.

So Adrien had blatantly and unrepentantly broken one of the cardinal rules of Gabriel Agreste and ducked into a convenience store for something caffeinated. They sold an energy drink that Nino liked, that was essentially a quad shot of espresso, jumped up with a veritable alphabet of vitamins and a lot of words that Adrien couldn't easily pronounce. The amount of caffeine in them was nothing short of obscene. 

Adrien grabbed three. 

And then a snack, because _damn_ his stomach was going to eat through his spine. He'd ambled up to the cashier to pay illicit bounty when he spotted the display of candy set temptingly next to the register.

Candy was also strictly forbidden, and Adrien was tempted to grab a handful for that reason alone, but he just didn't _like_ candy as much as some of his peers, so he settled for eyeing the lot while the cashier rang him up. 

And that was when he spotted it, nestled in a box of other shiny foil wrappers, sitting there innocently. Tempting him. It was _perfect_ , and Adrien paused only to rifle around to find a good flavor before setting it on the counter with the rest of his purchases.

He'd waited with it tucked carefully into his bag for nearly a week, silently grateful that Plagg didn't have Tikki's sweet tooth. His opportunity came one day at lunch. 

The three of them were sitting at a picnic table, chatting, eating their packed lunches. His consisted of salad, some cold fish for lean protein, and a piece of fruit for "dessert", which was more than he usually got. Adrien was absolutely positive he was going to starve before school let out. 

Alya had a sandwich, and Nino was dejectedly stacking his crackers while he lamented their chemistry exam. Adrien was poking at the stupid lettuce with his stupid fork and watching Nino try to balance a piece of cheese on his cracker tower when a box dropped down on the table like a gift from the heavens.

"Cheer up, guys!" Marinette grinned. "I come bearing gifts!"

The smell coming from the box was _divine_ , and Adrien didn't even care that his stomach rumbled embarrassingly loudly. Marinette popped the box open to reveal pastries: croissants and bread with fresh melty butter and _gods_ were those macaroons tucked in the corner? ****

Marinette reached in, plucking out a cheese danish and waving it under his nose. "Your favorite..." She sang. ****

Adrien didn't even hesitate, shoving the salad aside and snatching the danish. 

"You're a goddess." He moaned as the flaky pastry dissolved in his mouth. "A pastry goddess."

Marinette sniggered as she dropped onto the bench. "You're easy to please." She said, tilting the box so Alya and Nino could grab something.

"The way to my heart is with carbs." Adrien agreed easily.

"If only your fan base knew!" Marinette teased.

"But they don't. And if they find out, I'll never have any peace." Adrien reached out, snatching up Marinette's hand and batting his eyelashes. "You _have_ to save me from that. Will you marry me?"

_Thunk_. 

Marinette's thermos wasn't open, which was great, because it slipped out of her hand and hit the table noisily. Her mouth dropped open and she gaped at him.

Adrien grinned, knowing that the expression didn't look as innocent as he wanted but unable to do anything about it. "Look! I've even got a ring."

Twisting around, he reached into his bag and pulled out his phone, setting it inconspicuously on the table before snatching out the little foil wrapper to tear it open and fish out the treasure inside. Turning back to Marinette, who was still staring, he presented it to her with a grin.

"It's even pink!" He chirped. "Your favorite color."

Marinette blinked at him before her gaze dropped to the Ring Pop he held towards her. Her eyes rolled so hard her entire _head_ got into the motion as she stuck out her tongue and made gagging noises.

"You ass."

"Come on Bugaboo," Adrien cajoled, waving the jewelry shaped lollipop at her, "Say yes. We can make it schoolyard official. I'll even change my Facebook status."

"Do it and every fangirl out there will commit seppuku." Marinette sniffed, snatching the lollipop from him.

"So is that a yes?" Adrien asked, widening his eyes hopefully and giving her his best I'm Completely Innocent expression.

"Absolutely not." Marinette replied, sticking the lollipop into her mouth.

"My lady!" Adrien gasped, splaying his fingers over his chest dramatically. "You wound me."

"I'm sure." Marinette said dryly.

"You spurned my love, and still took the ring?" Adrien put on his best wounded expression. "And now you're _eating it_?"

"It's strawberry flavored." Marinette shrugged, her free hand lifting to point across the table. "I think you broke them."

Alya and Nino were both staring, mouths open and eyes round in shock. Alya's deli meat was falling out the sandwich that was hanging forgotten in her hands, and Nino's piece of cheese had slid off the top of his stack of crackers.

Adrien smirked, snatching up his phone (which was already _conveniently_ open to the camera app) and taking several quick pictures.

"Sure did." He grinned, looking at them.

"Those are good." Marinette said, looking over his shoulder. "Send them to me."

"No." Adrien pouted. "You spurned my love for you. And still took the ring. _How could you_?"

Marinette sat back, rolling her eyes. "Oh, get over it. Besides, I'm onto you: you only love me for my danish."

"You're kidding." Alya croaked out, eyes still flicking back and forth between them. "You _are_ kidding, right?"

"He's completely kidding." Marinette replied. "Your sandwich is falling apart."

"I'm not completely kidding." Adrien defended. "I'm like...ninety percent kidding."

"Ninety percent?" Nino was recovering, picking up a roll and ignoring his crackers, as well as the cheese that had slid off the top of them. "So you're ten percent serious?"

"Absolutely." Adrien nodded. "She's cute, I love her parents, and she brings me bread."

"You're incorrigible." Marinette interjected. "How long were you carrying that thing around waiting for the opportunity?"

"Like a week." Adrien admitted easily, picking up his danish. "Was it good?"

"Hmm." Marinette hummed around the sucker she still had in her mouth. "If you send me those pictures, it was good. Otherwise, I'll kick your ass for leading me on."

"I would never lead you on." Adrien said solemnly. 

"Then we have a deal." Marinette nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 0430. I can't sleep, so here have a chapter.


	4. All's fair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 4: Please, stay  
> Prompt 7: 4am  
> Prompt 18: Gaming

"Please stay."

Ladybug blinked down at Adrien from the side of the sofa. It was late, or maybe it was early? Ladybug glanced at the clock: it was early. Almost 4 a.m. 

"You know I can't." She said gently, carding her gloved fingers through Adrien's hair as she studied his heavy eyes and sleep-flushed cheeks. Standing, she stretched to work out the kinks acquired from falling asleep tangled on the sofa. "Go back to sleep."

****

_She and Adrien had been up gaming all bloody night, exploring (and getting lost in) the open world of the new Final Fantasy game. Then Mario. Somewhere between Street Fighter and 2 a.m. he'd started distracting her with kisses._

_Short, sweet pecks on her cheek, her neck, the tips of her ears. Kisses that lingered around the edge of her mask and the collar of her suit. By the time they'd progressed to long, slow kisses on the mouth, Adrien had won the game and Ladybug didn't care._

_Dropping her controller, she spun around to face him. Both of her red-gloved hands reached up, fingers tangling in his hair and the heels of her palms brushing the sides of his cheeks as she dragged his face down to meet hers and slammed her lips on his with bruising force._

_He grinned smugly against her lips and she growled, nipping at his lower lip in retribution._

_"_ _You cheated." She accused._

_"'_ _All's fair,'" Adrien gasped as she used the opening to slide her tongue in his mouth. He inhaled sharply through his nose, scraping his teeth over her tongue as he sucked on it harshly. Her fingers tightened in his hair, dragging his head back as she nipped at his chin, then peppered kisses up his jaw. His fingers dug into her waist, pulling her towards him as he groaned. Bracing her forearms on his shoulders to maintain the hold on his hair, she resisted._

_"_ _Which is it?" Ladybug demanded before she took his earlobe into her mouth and bit down, sucking to soothe the ache before tracing the tip of her tongue inside the shell of his ear._

_"_ _Which is what?" He panted._

_"'_ _All's fair in love and war.'" Ladybug finished his earlier quote. "Which is it?"_

_Adrien's head turned slightly, his cheek sliding across hers as he bent his head. His breath ghosted warm and wet over her neck for a fraction of an instant before his lips touched her skin, a soft kiss pressed to her pulse just below her ear. He laughed, low and husky and longing. "Oh, it's gonna be love."_

****

"I'll see you again?" Adrien mumbled, eyes slitted and glittering as he tried to stay awake.

"You always do." Ladybug replied, bending over to press a kiss to his forehead.

"Please." Adrien reached out, grasping her fingers to bring her gloved hand to his mouth.

"I'll see you soon. I'll be back soon." Ladybug rubbed her nose against the top of his head affectionately. He'd dropped her hand and was already back asleep before he could hear her say "I love you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not super happy with how this turned out, but the original version was heading into far smuttier territory than Fluff Month would call for so enberlight had to help me rein it back in.


	5. A Simple Meal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 4: Please, stay
> 
> Fab 4! Jade Turtle/Vulpine

Vulpine touched down on the beam and padded silently towards the person sitting on the edge.

"Hey, JT, you okay?" She asked above the wind.

Jade Turtle didn't even look at her as he flashed her a thumbs up over his shoulder. Yawning and stretching, Vulpine wandered closer.

"What are you doing out here anyway?" She asked, looking out over the city as she moved to stand next to him. "It's not your night for patrol." Pulling off her little drawstring backpack, she pulled it open, and was reaching in to rummage around for her water bottle when she heard him speak.

"Ah, well." Jade's voice was hoarse sounding, and a little rough. "I just...you know, needed some air."

Blinking, Vulpine looked down at her fellow superhero. She and Jade weren't the best of friends - they usually snipped and snapped at each other. She liked to poke him just to see his face turn red, and he was _way_ too fond of throwing out stupid challenges with his freaking haughty, I'm-better-than-you smirk. But Vulpine felt like maybe, despite that, they were at least alright with each other. When push came to shove, their teamwork was impeccable, so that had to count for something, right?

So, she and the Jade Turtle weren't best friends. But even she could see the lines of tension in his shoulders, the way his profile as he stared out blankly at the city was too tight. His brow was furrowed and his lips pressed together. Beneath the tinted goggles, his eyes looked glassy.

"Liar." Vulpine said, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jade snapped, head turning slightly so he could glare in her general direction. "Don't worry about it."

"Fine." Vulpine snapped right back, tossing her bag back over her shoulder, and the shifting weight behind her told her that her tail was swishing with irritation. "I'll just leave you to your sulk then."

She spun on her heel, fully intending to storm off, but an unexpected pressure on her fingertips stopped her. Glancing down, she was surprised to see Jade's green gloved hand grasping hers. Confused, she looked up at him.

He didn't look at her at first. He was still busy staring at the rivets or whatever of the beam they were on. But he was facing actually _in_ her direction now, so Vulpine waited patiently while he dragged his gaze up to meet hers.

She tried not to suck in a shocked breath when he finally met her eyes - any reaction on her part would probably send him straight back into his metaphorical shell. And possible literal one, because he could do shit like that.

The boy looked positively _wrecked_.

"I'm sorry." He said, and Vulpine was pretty sure her ears were playing tricks on her. Because if somebody had asked even five minutes ago whether Jade Turtle even _knew_ those words, she'd probably have laughed in their face.

"It's just been a rough night." Jade continued, gaze dropping back down to study the toes of her boots. "Please, stay?"

Vulpine was pretty sure she was dreaming. Or delirious with a fever, or maybe had hit her head. But the gentle pressure of his hand grasping her fingertips was too _real_ to be imagined, so all she could do was nod as she sank down beside him.

She wanted to ask what was wrong. _Alya_ would have, but Vulpine had learned about secrets, and respect. So she sat silently beside him for a while, uncertain and unsure, before giving in with a sigh and pulling her drawstring bag back around in front of her. Yanking it open, she stuck her hand in and pulled out the ham-and-cheese sandwich she'd made herself for dinner, and the tub of strawberries she'd intended to share with Trixx.

Silently, she offered him half of the sandwich. It hung there between them for a moment while he stared at it in confusion and turned to raise his eyebrow at her questioningly.

"'A simple meal.'" Vulpine said gently, shaking the proffered food a little.

Jade's mouth relaxed into a small smile, and he took it. "A simple meal." He agreed quietly.

Chat, their bouncy, optimistic, overly-energetic friend was always ridiculously eager when Ladybug brought food to their weekly "team bonding nights" as he called them. Ladybug only giggled at his reaction, and Jade had never questioned his enthusiasm, but Vulpine hadn't been able to resist teasing him.

 _"_ _Do they not feed you where you come from?" She'd teased him. "It's just croissants and jam."_

 _"_ _A simple meal enjoyed in good company," Chat said lightly, but his eyes belied his casual tone, "Is better than a feast eaten alone."_

_And then he'd crammed half a croissant into his mouth and the moment had been ruined. But the words stuck with her._

Vulpine and Jade silently ate their sandwich halves, and nibbled on the strawberries and shared her bottle of water. And later, because it was a _lot_ later than she'd intended to stay out, but she couldn't bring herself to leave, Vulpine scooted a little closer and dropped her head onto his shoulder with a sigh.

Slowly, his arm crept up around her shoulders, and his head tilted until it rested against the wild russet ringlets he liked to tease her about. Vulpine never did find out what was wrong, but in the end, she decided, it didn't really matter. Vulpine allowed her arm to sit around his waist, hand resting on his hip, and cherished the moment. 

Tomorrow, she knew, they'd be right back to snapping and taunting and teasing each other while Chat and Ladybug looked on in exasperation. But even though she liked to watch him groan and grimace and make annoyed sighs, she didn't like to see her sometimes-friend _hurt_ , and he was, and there was nothing she could hit to make it right again. And maybe she didn't have to - maybe her presence was enough to bring him some peace.

And so the two sat long into the night, and simply rested in each other's presence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm absolutely captivated with turning-the-tides cartoons that depict Jade Turtle/Vulpine as having a love/hate relationship as superheroes.


	6. Firsts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 5: Firsts  
> Prompt 13: Elation
> 
> Grab your toothbrush, folks. You're going to need it to ward off the cavities. Also, some more mature content, so if you're pure and innocent...well, maybe go to the next chapter.

The first time he saw her, he was intrigued. She was brave and terrified, sassy and uncertain, steady and clumsy. She was a study in contradictions, and he couldn’t look away.

The first time she giggled, he was captivated. When she laughed, her whole face got into the motion: her eyes closed and her brows scrunched up. Her nose wrinkled and her hand had covered her mouth as her head ducked down and her bangs covered her eyes. The first time she outright laughed was even better.

The first time she hugged him, it was amazing. He hadn’t had a hug in...a long time. Before his mother left. Her arms wrapping around his ribs, fingers digging into this spine as she pushed him closer and the way her bangs had tickled her cheek made him feel secure in a way he hadn’t felt in forever. It was the best thing, ever.

The first time he held her hand wasn’t until after she’d shown him the face behind the mask. They weren’t even _dating_ , per say, just...trying to figure things out. To reconcile two different people into one whole person. 

The crosswalk was counting down, and she’d grabbed his hand to pull him along to get across in time. When they made it to the other side, she didn’t let go. And her fingers clasped with his, palms pressed together to make a little heart-shaped knot between them, was the best thing ever.

Their first official date was fraught with uncertainty. He’d changed his outfit three times until Plagg threatened to tell Marinette what a damn _girl_ he was being, and he couldn’t decide if roses were too much for a first date, or should he go with daisies? The restaurant got their order wrong, someone actually came up to ask for an autograph, and it rained on the way home from the movie. But as she blushed prettily, smiling at him with hopeful uncertainty as she shyly told him that she’d had a great night, he was never more certain of anything in his life except that she was the best thing, ever.

The first time they kissed was awkward. It wasn’t anything like he’d imagined: he knew how he thought it should go, but he wasn’t sure how to get there. Their noses knocked, their teeth clacked, and she accidentally bit his lip. It was terrible, and when he opened his eyes to find her staring at him, he couldn’t help laughing in her face. She’d giggled when he’d clapped his hands over his mouth, mortified, and asked if maybe they could try again.

The second kiss was a lot better.

The first time they made love was kind of nerve-wracking. Both of them knew how they wanted things to go, but there’s a big difference between what your mind wants and what your body can do. She was just as inexperienced as he was - which was great, because that meant he got to _be_ her experience - but they both lay there afterward, cuddling and feeling strangely unfulfilled.

He’d finished too soon - she hadn’t gotten to finish at all. Condoms were awkward as hell, and neither of them knew how to handle the blood. They’d fooled around before, and knew that orgasm was _possible_ , but they’d neglected foreplay in the rush to get to the main event.

Still, despite the first time being...lacking, they did it again. And again, and again. They got a little better each time - learned more about each other, and learned to laugh at the awkward moments and cherish profound ones. Learning about another person’s intimate preferences, where to touch and what to do, was perhaps Adrien’s favorite education. In fact, by the time they moved in together, he’d happily considered himself a professional. Sex ed, he decided, was the best thing, ever.

The first time they had their friends over for a barbeque, Adrien burned everything and they ordered pizza. Nino never let him live it down.

The first time he asked her to marry him, she said yes. Thank God. Because Adrien was sure he wouldn’t have survived trying to ask a second time. And that stuttering, stammering, flustered _“Yes!”_ right before she’d tackled him to the ground and sent him ass over teakettle into a fountain was the best thing, ever.

The first time he woke up next to her as her husband was one of the happiest days of his life. They were exhausted for the day before, a little hungover, still hadn’t finished packing for their honeymoon, and his arm was numb from being under her neck. But right then, with her legs tangled with his and her breath warm on his cheek, it was the best day ever.

He revised that statement two years later, when she told him he was going to be a father.

The first time she was pregnant, they were both excited, nervous wrecks. Eight months was all it took to completely change their lives, _again_. There were fears and doubts, worries and uncertainty and a few crying jags. But in the end as he held his wife’s hand and she pushed their firstborn into the world, it was all worth it. Perched on the side of the bed, watching an exhausted and jubilant Marinette with her sweaty hair pinned up and their son on her breast, was the best thing. Ever.

The first time he had to change a poopy diaper, it resulted in both him and his son standing in the shower trying to clean off. Hugo had not been impressed with the water. Marinette had not been impressed with the _mess._

Unfortunately, there was a lot of poopy diapers involved with babies, so Adrien had to learn quickly how to deal with flailing limbs and squirmy babies. And he happily lorded that knowledge over Nino when they’d been left in charge of their children and Nino tried to stuff his newborn son in through the leg hole of his nappy.

Sitting smug and secure on the throne of Experience while watching your best friend flail as he was peed on by his own infant son was probably the best thing ever.

The first time Marinette was pregnant while already caring for a toddler could be summed up in one word: _exhausting._ (In fact, it had to be summed up in one word, because they were too tired to use two.) They were both working, and Hugo was deep in the throes of the Tyrannical Threes (whoever said two was the worst was a damn _liar_ ). Marinette was on her feet a lot during the day, and Adrien did what he could to make sure she could put her feet up once she came home, for at least a little while. 

Sabine, bless her soul, was over often. She cooked, or helped fold laundry, or just took Hugo out for a little bit so his exhausted parents could catch a break. A few times, she and Tom took him overnight, and Adrien felt guilty for thinking that a night of child-free, uninterrupted sleep and a lie-in the next morning was the best thing, ever.

Holding his daughter for the first time, with her wrinkly little face still red from the birth making her shock of pale hair stand out even more starkly, was the best thing ever. Staring into her cloudy blue eyes as she looked at him with the solemn expression all infants seem to have, was the best thing ever. Watching Hugo stare at his new little sister in utter fascination was the best thing ever...until he tried to bean her with the teddy bear he’d brought to give her.

The first time his infant daughter spit up her entire bottle onto him was awful. Marinette was having a difficult time breastfeeding this time, and Adrien knew a lot of work had gone into producing the milk his daughter had just vomited back up. Worse, it didn’t get better. Marinette was producing enough milk, but no matter what she did or how she changed her diet, it came right back up. The doctor was able to assure them that she was keeping enough to maintain her weight, but was helpless to explain _why_ it kept coming back up. 

Emma was in pain. She was in pain and she _wouldn’t sleep._ They tried the swing, the bouncer, holding, rocking and propping her up at an angle, but nothing seemed to help. The most she slept was about an hour, before she was awake and screaming again. Adrien honestly didn’t know how they would have survived without Tom and Sabine, who came over and helped out nearly every day either cooking or cleaning or just giving poor Hugo a bath and playing with him because his parents learned about a whole new, terrible level of exhaustion.

It took nearly six hellish weeks for Emma to be diagnosed as lactose intolerant. By the end of it blood was in her diapers and Adrien was ready to strangle his otherwise-likable pediatrician. Unfortunately, babies can’t talk, so it was all trial and error until the nurse suggested a special formula for babies who couldn’t digest milk proteins. Tired and desperate, they tried it.

The first night of a full hour’s sleep in almost two months was hands-down the best thing _ever._

The first time he came home and found his wife and her best friend sitting at the table sobbing was also, thankfully, the last time he came home and found his wife _and her best friend_ at the kitchen table sobbing. Adrien gave serious thought to just backing up and trying to escape out the front door until he could call Nino and find out _what the hell was going on,_ but Hugo squirmed past his legs and ran into the kitchen, leaving Adrien trying to _not_ drop his daughter’s carrier as he stumbled and fell against the wall. 

Later, when he found out why they had been sobbing, he had been at a complete loss for words.

“Ahh...at least you’ll be pregnant together?” He finally said awkwardly. His wife’s glare told him that maybe that line wasn’t his best one ever.

Dealing with an almost-school-age child, a mobile six-month-old baby and a unexpectedly-pregnant wife was, surprisingly, not as difficult as he had thought it would be. Hugo was pretty much potty trained and did a decent job of doing what he was told, and pretty much everything seemed like a breeze after the first few months of dealing with Emma. Marinette, once she was over the shock, was actually feeling pretty good, and she and Alya enjoyed being pregnant together. And even if Adrien was routinely accused of somehow plotting the whole thing (“How the hell could I have orchestrated this?”), for the first time, a pregnancy was relatively smooth sailing. 

The first time Adrien realized that they would be outnumbered, he had a mini panic attack. It was at dinner: he was nursing a glass of wine and watching Hugo try to play with Nino’s two boys, while Emma tried to pull herself up onto the sofa. 

_“Oh my god.” He mumbled, fingers suddenly going numb in shock. “Oh my god.”_

_“Dude, what?” Nino asked, snagging a green bean from the bowl and popping it into his mouth as he swished his own glass of wine idly._

_“There’s four of them.” Adrien said, pointing at the kids._

_Nino glanced at the kids, seemed to do a quick head count, then nodded. “Yep.”_

_“There’s four of_ us. _” Adrien said, pointing at Marinette and Alya who were leaning against the kitchen counter and chatting. Marinette looked up at him, eyebrow raised._

_“Yes…” Nino agreed tentatively._

_“But pretty soon there will be six of them!” Adrien said, voice rising at Nino’s apparently unconcerned look. “We’ll be outnumbered!”_

_“Are you just realizing that?” Alya asked, eyebrow raised as she stared at him over the rim of her glasses._

_“I don’t have enough hands to hold onto three kids.” Adrien moaned._

_Everyone, even his_ wife, _laughed at him._

Adrien got the last laugh when Alya unexpectedly had _twin_ girls, and a shocked Nino had to go purchase a second infant carrier. Because even if he and Marinette were outnumbered, Nino and Alya were more outnumbered. 

Sitting on his couch and holding his _one_ , as in _singular_ infant son while Nino stared back and forth between two crying babies may not have been the best thing ever (especially since that meant he got drafted to help), but it was pretty close.

It wasn’t the first time Adrien had walked in the house late. It wasn’t the first time Marinette was home before him. It wasn’t the first time she was cooking dinner, and it unfortunately wasn’t the first time Emma and Louis were fighting over the television, or that Hugo was playing his guitar too loudly. It wasn’t even the first time Adrien was struck by the sight of his wife, standing over the stove, stirring a red sauce with one hand and muttering over her sketchbook with the other. 

Her hair was still pinned up in it’s sensible work bun, but dark strands were escaping to fall down her neck. Pale white pearls - a fifth anniversary gift - gleamed dully in her ears. She had changed into casual jeans and had stolen one of his t-shirts that hung loosely on her still-slender frame. But when she looked up at him, eyes bright and smile welcoming, it stuck him just as hard as it had the first time.

“Hey Adrien, welcome home from work! How was your day?” She asked, setting the spoon on the stovetop and moving towards him.

“You,” He sighed as she folded him into a warm embrace, “are the best thing ever.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a few quick statements. 
> 
> One, I'm putting on my mom hat regarding sex, especially the first time: it probably isn't going to be all that awesome. Especially for the inexperienced. The internet, and yes, fanfiction, often idealizes sex. And sex can be _amazing._ But it takes time, experience, confidence,and _trust_ for it to be like that. It takes practice, so don't be disappointed if the first time isn't everything the internet told you it should be. The point is that you have to learn about yourself and your partner, and practice the likes. Don't rush things.
> 
> Two, the bit about Emma and lactose intolerance is a real thing - _ask me how I know. _Actually, you don't have to, I'll tell you: my youngest had lactose intolerance, and it took us 5 weeks and 3 days to diagnose it. The easies way to describe it, if you're unfamiliar, is to say that normal milk has complete lactose chains, and sometimes babies tummies can't digest that without irritating their stomach/bowels and causing pain. There are actually different levels of formula depending on how bad the intolerance is, but because it's a specialty formula, it's priced accordingly. Luckily, WIC covered our formula and it was only $13/can, but a friend of mine's daughter was on the extreme end of the scale and her formula was almost $40/can. Don't believe me? Look up EleCare formula.__


	7. Berry Lips and Cat Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino is cosmetically assaulted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 5: Firsts...as in, the first time Nino has to wear makeup. 
> 
> This chapter immediately follows Chapter 1: Blush.

Everyone, even Marinette, made it to school on time on Monday. Hell, most of the class was _early_ , so they could watch Adrien and Juleka apply Nino’s “face.” The teacher looked _floored_ when she walked in and the entire class was already present.

“Huh.” Kim, looked at Nino, cocking his head speculatively. “At the risk of sounding gay… you look pretty hot.”

“Smoking.” Alix agreed next to him.

“For your first time wearing makeup, you don’t look bad.” Mylene said kindly.

Nino felt violated.

Adrien had rolled in at six-thirty with a large bag and a gleam in his eye. Juleka had been right behind him with a slightly smaller bag and an evil smile. The school had already been unlocked, so they were in the classroom in short order, Adrien spinning the teacher’s chair out setting it next to the desk. Reaching into his bag, he pulled out a small desk lamp and positioned it before looking at Nino and pointing to the chair.

Nino slumped into the chair with a sigh, watching Adrien pull more makeup out of his Bag of Horrors. Tubes, pots, sticks, compacts and an astounding variety of what looked like paint brushes emerged and were set out.

“Is this all yours?” Juleka asked, sounding torn between shock and envy.

“Nah.” Adrien said. “I mean, _some_ of it is, but I was able to talk one of the makeup artists into parting with most of her spare kit for the day.”

“Ohhh.” Juleka crooned, picking up one of the tubes. “This is the _good_ stuff.”

“And he doesn’t even appreciate that.” Adrien lamented.

Juleka shook her head and clucked her tongue sadly.

Nino felt completely patronized. Then offended, when Adrien whipped out his phone and had him face it to get a “before” picture.

Adrien handed him a damp cloth out of a plastic bag. “Wet your face down.”

Nino shot him a questioning look. “I thought you were putting makeup on?”

“I am.” Adrien nodded. “But you have to clean your face first.”

“Um, okay. But I washed it just a half hour ago.” Nino replied, pressing the cloth against his face.

“Yep.” Adrien said, picking up a tube and squeezing something onto his palm. “But now we’re going to _clean_ it.”

Nino got the feeling that the two of them weren’t using the same dictionary.

“Are we going to exfoliate too?” Juleka asked excitedly.

“Sure are!” Adrien grinned. “I’ve been waiting a whole _year_ to get to do this, and it may never happen again. So we’re going full bore.”

Thus started a process of putting stuff on his face, scrubbing it around, and then promptly _washing it off._ Adrien and Juleka patiently explained what they were doing, and why, but it didn’t really make Nino feel much better. Cleanser, exfoliator, some kind of serum, moisturizer, something else was misted onto his face and allowed to sit for a minute while Adrien selected another tube.

“This is awesome.” Juleka laughed. “Can I lose the next bet?”

“I think that could be arranged.” Adrien grinned, using his fingertips to put _more stuff_ on Nino’s face.

“When are we getting to the actual makeup?” Nino asked, curious despite himself. So far it hadn’t been too bad, just confusing, but looking at the array of colors Adrien had laid out made him want to whimper. He was going to look like a _clown._

“We’re starting that now.” Adrien replied. “This is primer. It will help the makeup stay on your face, and not smear or rub off as you go through the day.”

“This is insane.” Nino replied. “Do you do this shit every day?”

“Not _all_ of this.” Adrien replied. “I have a pared down regimen I have to follow every day, but yes, this is the full photo shoot face.”

“This takes forever.” Nino pointed out.

“Which is why I have to be up at three for a six a.m shoot.” Adrien said. He turned, picking up two small tubes and eyed them.

“I think that one.” Juleka pointed.

“Beige three?” Adrien held the tube up for confirmation, then set the other down and dabbed a bit of the stuff on the back of Nino’s hand. He and Juleka scrutinized it for a moment before Adrien shook his head.

“Too light. I’d say one darker.” Another damp cloth wiped the first smear of flesh-colored cream off, and the next one was applied and approved before Adrien picked up one of the paint brushes and used it to apply flesh-colored goop to Nino’s face.

Nino lost track of the names of things used. It was a lot. And each little makeup brush had a purpose. Juleka actually _danced_ when Adrien started contouring his face, and the two of them took great pleasure in debating which shade of “berry” to apply to his lips. Juleka was given reign over his eyes.

People had started arriving about the same time Adrien and Juleka broke out the brown-and-white palette of “contouring.” Rose was first, and sat there politely giggling at the whole scene. Alix, the little _brat_ , actually brought _popcorn_ , and proceeded to share it with everyone present. Ten minutes before class was supposed to start, Adrien was packing his Bag of Horrors and Nino was pulled into the light for an “after” photo that somehow turned into a mini photo shoot.

“I did not agree to this!” Nino whined.

Alya only laughed and pulled him closer. “You look hot. Don’t fight it - look, I even put on my makeup, too!”

Not that he would ever admit it, but Nino knew that he didn’t look bad at all. Sure, the lips and eyes were a little over-the-top, but they weren’t _garish_ , and actually looked good on him (as disturbing as that was). Despite the sheer amount of _stuff_ that had been slathered on his face, none of his skin looked strange. Different, yes, strange, no.

“You have cheekbones. And your jawline...” Mylene commented. “How did you _do_ that?”

“Adrien.” Nino replied.

Word of his shame had spread around the school, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Sure, there was _some_ laughing and pointing, but most people who said anything only _complimented_ him.

And at the end of the day, a smugly grinning Adrien presented him with a few plastic bags of makeup remover and thanked him for being a good sport.

“So…” Nino asked, peeking in the bag. “Want to go get a cheeseburger?”

“Don’t you want to go wash off your face first?” Adrien asked. “I mean, technically, your debt is fulfilled.”

Nino paused. “Nah,” He said nonchalantly. “I’ve already had it on this long. Unless you think the cheeseburger would smear my lipstick.”

Adrien’s shocked face didn’t make up for being cosmetically assaulted, but it did help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double dose of the daily prompt! I'm gonna high five myself for being awesome.


	8. Blanket Fort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 6: Blanket Fort
> 
> Kind of in the same universe as Chapter 5? Nino/Alya family feels. Nino is a pretty princess. :)

“Stop getting yourself down Alya, this doesn’t happen _that_ often.” Trixx patted Alya’s hand consolingly as she stepped towards the door.

“Yeah, but it’s the third time it’s happened _this month._ ” Alya fretted. “I’m really surprised Nino hasn’t lost it yet - _and_ the twins are sick. I’m not sure how I’m going to make it up to him.”

One of the supervisors - the one usually in charge of overseeing the afternoon broadcast - had unexpectedly quit last month after a fight with the higher-ups. Ever since, Alya and the evening supervisor had been dividing the shift up with help from a few more junior anchors who were using it as a learning experience. The extra money was certainly nice, but the extra _time_ that was spent there was not.

“I’m sure he understands.” Trixx consoled. “He knows it’s not your fault.”

Today there had been a malfunction with one of the booms, and they hadn’t been able to find a cover for the spare. Then the camera started glitching, and it took an extra twenty minutes to discover the problem was a frayed cord that had fallen into a corner. Then it was finding a new cord, and getting an on-call electrician to wire the cord to the camera. Between that and the paperwork, it was after 4 p.m. when Alya was getting home - and she’d left for work at 3 _a.m._ to supervise the morning newscast. 

It had been a long, long day. Alya was dog tired, her feet hurt, her hair was coming down, and she was _not_ looking forward to whatever horror awaited her beyond her front door.

“Be brave.” Trixx whispered, but her tail was twitching nervously too. “I mean, unless Jade Turtle is cowering in a corner, covered in kid vomit and wearing a princess dress while the house burns down around him, it can’t be that bad, right?”

Alya snorted out a laugh at the image provided. “Thanks for putting things in perspective for me, Trixx.” She said dryly. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

The first thing she noticed was that it was _quiet._ The television wasn’t blaring, she couldn’t hear Blake or Alain squabbling, Nino wasn’t yelling, and nobody was crying.

“Are they even here?” Alya whispered trepidatiously, shutting the door behind her and toeing off her pumps. 

“Maybe they went out?” Trixx suggested.

“Amelia and Marie were puking and running a fever twelve hours ago.” Alya replied. “I really don’t think he took vomiting children to the playground.”

“Maybe they were kidnapped by aliens.” Trixx mused.

“Well then,” Alya snorted, “if that’s the case, they’ll be home by dinner time.”

Trixx’s ear flicked consideringly. “Probably.”

Alya stepped out of the foyer and into the living room and froze as her eyebrows climbed up her forehead. 

Her house had been completely rearranged. Her sofa and loveseat were facing away from each other, with what looked like her bed sheets draped across the backs. Black specks denoted clips were holding the edges together, and something was poking up in the center to help hold the makeshift ceiling aloft. Couch cushions were stacked up in the gap between the furniture and a smaller gap between them was obviously meant to be a doorway of some sort.

The t.v. was on, but muted, with some kind of afternoon kid’s show running across the screen. Trixx darted forward and through the gap, then almost immediately buzzed back out, paws clapped over her mouth to stifle her giggles.

Heartened, Alya moved forward, cautiously lifting the edge of the “roof” to peer underneath. Quickly, her hand rose to mimic her kwami’s position and cover her mouth.

Apparently a princess tea party had been interrupted by an impromptu nap. Amelia and Marie were wearing their Princess Outfits that their Aunt Mari had made for them - fluffy, ornate, twirly girl dresses covered in lace and ruffles. They each had at least ten cheap plastic necklaces on, and paper crowns lay by their still-bed-mused hair. Plastic dress up heels and tea cups were littered around the pile of blankets and pillows that everybody was on. Fairy wands were in the mixed, glittering with the giant, gaudy jewels that the girls absolutely _loved._

Even better was _Nino._ Her strong, handsome, part-time superhero husband who mixed jams at the local hot spot was passed out right along with them. He too had a paper crown (pink!), and was wearing an obscene amount of cheap bracelets and necklaces. 

The frilly apron and the line of drool running down his cheek was just the icing on the cake. Snorting, Alya pulled out her phone to snap a picture.

_1 new text message_

Frowning, Alya swiped her phone open to see that Adrien had texted her almost two hours ago.

_Blake came home with Hugo, and I picked up Alain._ It read. _Nino looked a little frayed, so we’ve got the boys for the night. Pizza will be delivered at 6. You’re welcome. ;)_

“I hope Marinette doesn’t take this the wrong way, but I might kiss him.” Alya muttered to Trixx, who nodded sagely. Pulling up the camera on her phone, Alya snapped a few pictures, being sure to get a close-up of the drool, Nino’s askew glasses and the glitter stuck to his cheek.

Stepping back, Alya snapped a picture of the blanket fort to, just because it was too cute.

“Then again…” Tapping her chin thoughtfully, she pulled up Adrien’s text message and quickly attached the pictures of Nino in his finery, crashed out atop every pillow in the house with pink tea cups and fairy wands scattered around him.

Considering her best male friend duly thanked, Alya left her three princesses to their nap.


	9. 4am (Bonding time)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 7: 4am - Ninette family feels!

Nino groaned when the noise from the bedside monitor woke he up. Blearily, he rolled over and stared at the clock, squinting to read it without his glasses: 4am.

_“Ugh.”_ Was his heartfelt and articulate opinion of that fact.

The small hiccuping noises from the monitor upped themselves to cries. Nino mused that he felt much the same.

“Wha-?” His wife’s tone was groggy and muffled - probably because her face was pressed into her pillow, Nino noted with a snigger.

Well, he’d only gone to bed like a half hour ago, he could handle it.

“It’s okay, I’ll get her.” He patted her shoulder sympathetically.

“W’sa-? Din’ja jus’ ge’ome?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Nino couldn’t stop the smile, and judging by his wife’s bleary-eyes scowl as she pulled her head up to glare at him, she had heard it.

“Never mind.” She grumbled. “You’re obviously still awake.”

“I got home about an hour ago.” Nino said, reaching over to mute the baby monitor. “I’m still a little wound up.”

“ _Ugh_ Saturday nights.” Marinette’s cheek smushed against her pillow. “I fed the beast at one...I think we’re going through another growth spurt.”

“I saw the bottle on the counter. Still good?” Nino queried.

“Ye-ahhh~” Marinette yawned. “She only nursed out of one side, so I pumped the other.”

“Okay.” Nino yawned. “Go back to sleep; I’ll get her.”

“You’re the best.” Marinette mumbled, her hand reaching out and patting at him as her eyes slid closed. “Love you and stuff.”

“You too, Mari.” Nino replied, but she was already snoozing. Sliding out of bed he made his way around the foot and out the door. 

Emmaline’s room was right next door, so Nino wasn’t sure why they even had a baby monitor… Actually, scratch that, he knew exactly why they had a baby monitor, he just wasn’t sure why it was on _his_ side of the bed.

“Your mama could sleep through an earthquake.” He said to his daughter, who had pulled up on the side of her crib and and stopped crying when she heard her daddy approaching. “Hey sprite.”

Emmaline let go of her crib rails, hands reaching, but promptly lost her balance and fell back on her padded little bottom. Sweet little cherub lips pulled into a pout and her wide blue eyes filled with tears as she started to whimper.

“Aw, no, none of that.” Nino reached down, picking her up and snuggling her against his shoulder, and relishing the way she leaned her cheek into his shoulder as her tiny arms clutched at his shoulders. “Did you stay up to say good morning to me?”

Emmaline grinned at him, babbling nonsensically and grabbing one foot, shoving it in her mouth happily.

“Yes, you’re very flexible.” Nino said, gently removing the foot from her grasp so he could unsnap her sleeper and pull her chubby baby legs out of it. “We’ll enroll you in gymnastics first thing tomorrow. Olympics next year.”

Emma squealed, kicking her legs and smiling.

Nino expertly grabbed her feet in one hand, undoing her diaper and slipping it out from under her. Luckily it was just wet, so a quick swipe with a wipe and a bit of powder and she was good to go. Luckily, she didn’t fight putting her sleeper back on, likely because she knew a bottle was next.

Or because she wanted to play.

“Don’t tell your mom,” Nino told his daughter conversationally as he wandered out of her bedroom and towards the kitchen, “but I think that you’re a bit of a night owl.”

Emmaline sighed and tucked her head under his chin, her chubby hand patting his collarbone.

“Yeah?” Nino replied, palming the bottle sitting ready on the kitchen counter enroute to the couch. “What should we watch tonight? News? Auntie Alya will be on.”

Emma yawned and reached for her bottle. Nino handed it to her easily as she settled in the crook of his arm, one hand on the bottle to help steady it or her.

“I agree.” Nino nodded sagely. “News is kind of boring...which is probably what we need to get to sleep, actually.”

Emma let go of the bottle to wave a tiny fist around.

“Fine, fine, you win you tiny dictator.” Nino smiled. “Cartoons it is.”

Reaching over the side of the couch, Nino pulled the lever that released to foot rest and leaved back into the recliner. Picking up the remote, he flipped on the television, queuing up the movie service and running a search for their favorite cartoon.

“Your Uncle Adrien _loves_ cartoons.” Nino told his daughter conversationally. “You remember, that guy who sent you the three foot teddy bear? Yeah, he’s a bit extra, but we love him anyway.”

Emmaline hummed around her bottle.

“I know, I know, it’s _pink.”_ Nino made a face. “You and your mom, I swear. Well, what do you think we should watch? Inuyasha? Bleach? Soul Eater? That’s your uncle’s favorite.”

In the end, Emma and Nino did pick Soul Eater - though it was a hotly debated topic. Emma finished her bottle long before the episode ended, and the father/daughter duo watched while the characters flipped and fought and perved around the screen.

“Cover your eyes child,” Nino murmured, putting a hand over his daughter’s eyes as Spirit Albarn perved on the hot nurse for the third time _that episode._ Emma, of course, did not take kindly to the maneuver and grabbed at his hand, pushing it away.

The ending credits rolled and Nino yawned. “What do you say, sprite? One more?”

Glancing down, he saw Emma fast asleep in his arms.

“I’m telling Uncle you fell asleep during his favorite show.” Nino whispered accusingly as he put the foot rest in and stood. “I mean, he’ll probably forgive you since you’re only seven months old and all, but still...totally telling.”

Setting the empty bottle in the sink, Nino wandered into his daughter’s room and carefully settled her sleeping form in her crib. Emma’s blankie was stuffed into the corner, and Nino shook it out, settling it gently over her sleeping form and watching as she grabbed a corner of it in her fist. 

Reaching out, Nino ran a finger over her soft dark curls, marveling at how tiny and perfect she was. She had such a big presence for such a small child - it was easy to forget that his hand cover her entire back until she was still and sleeping. 

“Sweet dream, sprite.” He murmured, before turning and heading towards his own bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My youngest and I used to hand out and watch Rescue Heroes together while he had his bedtime bottle. Not because I really had any fondness for Rescue Heores, but because it came on after I put the twins to bed, and I was too lazy to move the baby to find the remote and change the channel. Eventually it just became something we did.


	10. Ivory #5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 8: New - In which Adrien's dubious Man Card is lost, and Nino should have read the fine print on his Friendship Contract.
> 
> This chapter is the story behind Chapter 1 (where Nino lost a bet) and Chapter 6 (where Nino had to pay up). Enjoy.

Adrien, the poor, homeschooled, social recluse that he was, had no concept of the Man Card. Thus, as his first and best man friend, it fell to Nino to teach him all the things he _should_ have known, had he not had the most bizarre, anti-social upbringing known to teenage history.

Nino had no idea what he’d signed on for when he’d shaken Adrien’s hand that day.

The first time it had happened, Nino had been totally unprepared. Adrien had slouched in the door, stumbled into his seat, and dropped his head onto his arms.

“Dude, you okay?” Nino asked, concerned.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Adrien’s mouth split in a jaw-cracking yawn. “Late night. I just need to slap on my face, and I’ll be good.”

 _Slap on his…?_ Nino hadn’t had very long to contemplate what the hell Adrien meant, because said boy had already reached into his backpack and pulled out a small zippered pouch. Nino’s mind had just long enough to produce a disbelieving sound (which thankfully didn’t exit his mouth) before Adrien pulled the zipper, turned the pouch upside down, and dumped freaking _makeup_ onto their desk.

 _“Dude?!”_ Nino yelped. Yelped, not _squeaked_ , because yelping was more manly. Squeaking was _not._

“What?” Adrien flipped open a small compact, reaching for an equally small tube of something flesh colored and unscrewing the lid.

“What are you _doing?”_ Nino hissed. This went way beyond New Kid Syndrome! This was like… Alien Body Snatcher shit!

“Ummm...concealer?” Adrien blinked at him owlishly. 

“Don’t- Don’t do that stuff _here_.” Nino was appalled. 

Adrien looked completely bewildered. “Why not? Should I go to the bathroom? There’s only a few minutes before class starts.”

“That’s _makeup._ ” Nino almost wailed it. “Put it _away.”_

Adrien’s eyebrows were crawling towards his hairline.

“Makeup is _girl stuff._ ” Nino hissed, trying to shove the various tubes and squares back into the little zippered black pouch, preferably before anyone else noticed. Adrien, damn him, only leaned back, holding the small, blue, inconspicuous _square of eternal shame_ high into the air and away from Nino’s grasping fingers. “Men do _not_ wear makeup. Where is your _pride?”_

“My...What? Nino.” Adrien watched his friend quietly panic. “What the hell? It’s not _drugs.”_

“No, it’s _girl stuff._ ” Nino hissed. “No self-respecting man wears makeup...or if they do, they don’t let other men know. You’re gonna lose your Man Card!”

“Nino.” Adrien said patiently. “I’ve been wearing makeup since I was five.”

“Wait, what?” Nino’s hands stilled in the middle of pulling the zipper shut. “That...what? I mean, I know most of the girls in our class probably wear makeup, but except Chloe, they didn’t start until they were like, thirteen.”

Adrien’s eyebrow winged upwards. “Model.”

“And they did that to you?” Nino wanted to cry on his friend’s behalf, but crying wasn’t manly, either. 

“You act like they tortured me.” Adrien now sounded _amused_ , damn him. “ _All_ models wear makeup, Nino. Literally, every single one.”

Nino had never really considered it. It made sense, but he’d never thought about it. Why would he? But in that moment, Nino’s world cracked, just a little.

“Okay.” Nino took a deep breath, resolutely zipped the bag closed, and pushed it under the desk. “Okay. Clearly it’s time for a Man Class.”

“A what?” Adrien’s expression was torn between disbelief and amusement.

“Man class.” Nino said sternly. “This is _life lessons_ , man. And if you want to retain your Man Card, _put that fucking compact away._ ”

Said compact, held damningly in the air, dropped lower as Adrien’s elbow thumped onto the desk. Impatiently, Nino reached out, slapping Adrien’s hand down. At least now the compact was mostly out of sight of the _entire class._

“Okay.” Nino inhaled, trying to marshal his thoughts. “First, I don’t know what model world you grew up in, but in the real world, men do _not_ wear makeup. And if they do, they don’t let other men know they’re wearing it. And the _sure as hell_ do not apply it in class. You start slapping that shit on here, and you are never going to hear the end of it. It will follow you.”

“Really?” Adrien cocked his head inquisitively.

“Really.” Nino nodded seriously. “Kim is the loudest loudmouth there is, and he loves to push buttons. If he thinks it will embarrass you, he’ll rub it so far in your face that your nose will scrape off.”

“But it doesn’t embarrass me.” Adrien said in amusement.

“Yeah, because you grew up in model world. Seriously, did you _never_ attend school? Hang out with other boys who weren’t _also_ wearing makeup and shaking their hips on the catwalk?”

Adrien’s lips quirked. “I do not shake my hips. Promise.”

“Your education has been sadly neglected.” Nino said solemnly. “I don’t care how many lessons you took.”

“Really.” 

“Yes, really.” Nino said primly. “When you’re older, maybe you can swing applying concealer in the bathroom without shame. Now? You’re a teenager. There will be shaming. There will be teasing. Your Man Card will be taken away, and no girl is gonna want to date you.”

“Is this Man Card a real thing?” Adrien still looked amused. “Because I’ve never heard of it.”

“And that’s why I’m _informing you._ ” Nino scolded. “Because your Public Knowledge 101 class was never in session, apparently. This is _sandbox shit,_ man. I mean, really, did your dad _never_ let you play with other kids?”

“No.” Adrien shook his head. “Just Chloe, really.”

Nino dropped his face into his hands mournfully. “That explains so much.”

As if on cue, the door to the classroom slammed open, and the devil herself flounced through, followed closely by her faithful lackey. Gum snapped as she rifled through her bag, dropping into her seat with a noise of annoyance. Lips pursed angrily, Chloe dropped her designer bag next to her desk carelessly before glancing at them. Her eyes lit up as she spied the compact still resting under Adrien’s palm.

 _"Adrihoney!”_ She squealed obnoxiously. “You’re a lifesaver! Can I borrow that? I left mine at home today, and I just _have_ to touch my face up!”

“Chloe, you know we’re not the same shade.” Adrien said casually. “I’m an Ivory five, and you’re clearly wearing a Buff two.”

Chloe pouted. “No I’m not. This shade is perfect.”

“Your hands are two shades lighter.” Adrien pointed out. “And you forgot to do your collarbone.”

“So? This is a _tan_ , Adrien.” Chloe’s eyes narrowed. “Are you really going to call me out like that?”

“I’m not calling you out.” Adrien replied. “I’m saving you embarrassment. If you put this powder on, it’s going to ruin your whole face, and your blush is going to be washed out _and_ too dark.”

As the bickering continued, Nino dropped his face onto the desk and groaned. It was worse than he thought. Adrien’s nonexistent Man Card was _gone._ Worse? He didn’t even seem to _care._


	11. Valentine's Day (pt 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 9: It's you

“Have you ever loved someone?”

The question surprised Chat, though it really shouldn’t have. It was Valentine’s Day - the day of love, in the city of love. Love was a hot topic today - especially since their akuma had been a scorned woman who’d found out her husband was cheating on her with _another man._

Now though, it was late. Chat should have been in his room, as Adrien, either replying to fans, working on homework, or even eating a light repast. He could have been at a charity gala, but he hadn’t wanted to go and his father hadn’t put up a fuss.

Adrien had resolved to spend his night relaxing, doing some homework, taking a hot shower and stuffing Plagg full of cheese. But once the sun had set, he hadn’t been able to contain his restlessness any more, and instead found himself vaulting across rooftops.

He hadn’t thought anybody would join him . JT and Vulpine were both out on a date - not with each other (“I’d know if my girlfriend was a superhero, Chat!”) but the fact remained that their night was blocked out. Ladybug hadn’t said anything, but Chat had been absolutely certain that she had a date lined up - who wouldn’t want to date her?

So he’d been surprised when she’d found him on a roof. Once they’d ascertained that no, it wasn’t another akuma and yes, he was honestly just out for a run and no, he wasn’t insane, they’d retired to a different roof (they were kind of attracting a crowd) to relax on.

Chat would rather have gone to the Eiffel Tower - it was their spot, after all - but the popular tourist destination was even _more_ popular today, and was way too crowded for two superheroes to relax in peace.

“Yeah.” Chat replied eventually, ignoring the twinge in his chest. “You?”

“Of course.” He could see Ladybug nod out of the corner of his eye as she lay on her back next to him, looking up into the night sky. “When I was eight, I was in love with Han Solo.”

“Han Solo?” Chat grinned. “Isn’t he a little...old for you? And fictional?”

“Don’t mock my affection!” Ladybug scolded, swatting his bicep with the back of one red-gloved hand. She ruined the effect by giggling. “I was very serious, I’ll have you know.”

“So what happened to you and Han?” Chat asked.

“I threw him over for a boy in my class who had pretty hair and could draw.”

“For shame.” Chat tsked. “So what happened to you and the pretty artist?”

“I never worked up the courage to tell him his hair was pretty.” Ladybug smiled. “He was sharing his snack with the girl in art class, anyway.”

“Scandalous!” Chat gasped.

“I know.” Ladybug giggled.

“So who else stole your heart?” Chat smiled.

“Next was a musician...he played guitar. I think he might have liked me back, eventually, but I’d already developed a different crush.”

“That sucks.” Chat replied.

“Not really.” Ladybug shrugged. “We’re better off as friends...and he’s dating my best friend now. I couldn’t imagine them with someone else; they’re just too perfect.”

“Well, that’s good then. What happened to your other crush?” Chat yawned, but resisted the urge to check his baton: he didn’t want his partner to think he was bored.

“I was a stuttering, stammering mess.” Ladybug said. “I couldn't say a complete sentence in front of him without getting hopelessly tongue-tied. I was a wreck.”

 _“You?”_ Chat physically turned his head to gape at his fellow superhero. 

“Total. Idiot.” Ladybug nodded. “It probably didn’t help that my best friend knew how hopelessly in love with him I was, and liked to spend her down time concocting ridiculous schemes to get us together.”

“I can’t see it.” Chat shook his head. “So what happened to lover boy?”

“Oh, I still see him around - remember how I said my best friend was dating? Yeah, that boy is _his_ best friend. And even though we’re all finishing up University now, we still see each other a lot.”

“So are you two…” Chat gestured helplessly.

“No.” Ladybug shook her head. “I met someone else.”

“Oh. Who was the next contestant for your heart?” Chat forced himself to keep his tone casual. His Lady had apparently considered a great many guys to be contenders for her affections...and none of them were him. After eight years, it didn’t hurt like it once had, but it didn’t feel _good_ either.

“I actually didn’t like him at first.” Ladybug said. “He was loud and obnoxious, and had the worst sense of humor - he flirted with everyone and it was so over-the-top it was painful. He drove me crazy.”

“Sounds like my kind of man.” Chat said lightly.

“Yeah, you _would_ like that.” Ladybug snorted.

“So what made you like him.” Chat reached out to poke her side, and Ladybug giggled and swatted at his hand.

“I got to know him.” Ladybug laced her fingers behind her head idly. “It took a while, and he didn’t make it easy, but I also wasn’t trying very hard. We worked together, but that was about it. He still flirted, and made stupid jokes and was loud and obnoxious.

It took a while to realize that he was loud and obnoxious because he just wanted attention. Everything he did - the stupid jokes, the blatant flirting, was because he was looking for acknowledgment. His home life was pretty rotten, and he didn’t understand people, so really, he was just trying to relate.”

She sighed. “And...he was kind. Nicer than me, really. He always made time for others, and helped where he could, and never complained. I mean, he’s still a giant dork, but once I got past the...the _show_ , I found someone I really liked.”

Chat hummed thoughtfully. “So what happened?”

“Oh, I went back and forth between him and the other boy for a while. Serious internal struggle.” Ladybug smiled fondly. “But then again, I was sixteen. Angsting was definitely what I did best.”

“You?” Chat sniggred. “Never.”

Ladybug giggled. “Anyway, by the time I realized I was in love with him, I couldn’t remember ever _not_ loving him. It kind of...crept up on me, I guess? I just got comfortable. We’d talk, and laugh, and I’d tease him about his stupid jokes and bad flirtations. There was this sense of _right_ when I was with him that I didn’t even notice at first, until he gone for a while, and I found myself looking for him and wondering why it felt like everything had been shifted slightly to the left.”

“Sounds like a good guy.” Chat said quietly, crossing his arms behind his head and smothering another yawn. “So, what happened?”

“Oh, nothing.” Ladybug sighed. “He came back, and we went on being friends. And I tore myself up for forsaking my ‘one true love’ from college, and waited for a good moment to my obnoxious friend that I was head over heels for him.”

“Did you?” Chat asked.

“Yeah.”

“And what happened? I mean, you two obviously aren’t still together if you’re spending Valentine’s Day on a roof with me.” 

Ladybug giggled. “Silly cat.” She rolled over, snugging up against his side and resting her torso on his ribs. Crossing her arms, she set them over his chest and rested her chin atop her forearms. Her elbows were practically in his armpits, and her nose was so close to his that their exhales mingled in the night air. “It’s you.”

And then she kissed him. 

It was light, just a brush of her lips across his. Even as she pulled back, Chat’s chin tilted, jaw angling as he sought to follow her. Ladybug’s lips twitched slightly as she leaned back in, pressing her lips against his and sighing as his head tilted, shifting the angle to deepen the kiss. 

Her forearms pressed into his chest as she shifted herself forward, and he was acutely aware of her breasts rubbing against his lower ribs with the motion. Since Chat’s head was already raised, he uncrossed his arms and reached out, grasping her upper arms to drag her closer to him. He shivered as the move dragged more of her body over top of him to better accommodate the position.

Ladybug hummed in the back of her throat, catching his lower lip between her teeth. Chat gasped, and she let go, slanting her mouth back over his and brushing her tongue against his own shyly. Chat responded happily, letting his arms creep around her torso, hands resting on her waist.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him, and he leaned back to frown into her kiss-dazed expressions.

“Wait a second - did you call me _obnoxious?_ ”


	12. Valentine's Day (pt 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 9: It's You

_Meanwhile, somewhere in Paris…_

 

“Hey, babe? I’ve...got something I need to tell you.”

Aya smiled up at him. So far, her night had been _perfect_. Nino had really gone all out - reservations at a nice restaurant, he had worn a _suit_ , and had presented her with a bouquet of roses. Dinner had been amazing, the wine had been lovely, and there was a box of truffles from the Dupain-Cheng bakery waiting at her apartment for him. 

“Yes?” She asked, reaching out to lace her fingers with his. They were both bundled up - it was February and chilly, but the night was crisp and clear, so they’d decided to go on a walk after dinner. They avoided the touristy places like the eiffel tower and the Seine, and had chosen a smaller, obscure park that was near her apartment.

Maybe she could convince him to sit on a bench and snog for a little while? 

“It’s,” Nino took a deep breath, and Alya frowned at how obviously _nervous_ he looked. “It’s something I’ve wanted to tell you for a while. And..I wanted you to be the first to know.”

Alya’s eyebrows raised as alarm as he thoughts started to race. Was he sick? Was he hurt? He looked nervous, so she didn’t think it was anything like a promotion, or he’d be excited instead. Did his job want him to move to another studio? Oh god, what if he was _dying?_

“Um, babe?” Alya bit her lips. “Can you just tell me? You’re kind of freaking me out.”

_Did he know she was Vulpine?_ Was he breaking up with her because she’d lied to him and he didn’t want to be in a relationship with a superhero who regularly put her life on the line for the good of Paris? Was it too much pressure?

“Yeah.” Nino huffed out a breath. “Sure. Just spit it out. Okay, well, here goes: I’m Jade Turtle.”

Alya stopped dead.

Nino, feeling the sudden jerk, whirled around to face her. “I know babe, it’s probably a shock. And...I’m sorry I kept it from you for so long, but-”

Alya blinked at him, tuning out his frantic confession - apology? - in favor of studying him.

_This_ was Jade Turtle? Her snarky, sarcastic, pragmatic-to-the-point-of-being-pessimistic partner? The one who she fought with, challenged, snapped at? The one who was her kind-of friend even when they were annoying the hell out of each other?

She couldn’t… couldn’t reconcile that person, that repressed, jaded man with her sweet Nino-bear, whom she’d been dating since she was fifteen. 

_Wait…_ Alya frowned as the thought occurred to her. _We started dating years before we were chosen for a Miraculous. Jade Turtle acts so different from Nino! Why is that? Did I really just not know him this entire time? Or was he just hiding a part of himself from me so I would like him?_

“Alya?” Alya glanced up, torn from her thoughts as Nino let go of her hand to reach up and grip her shoulders. Worried brown eyes stared into hers, and - _how could she not have seen it sooner?_

Despite not having the tinted green lenses obscuring then, the expression was the same one that JT had whenever she was injured and he was shielding her. That same honest concern, the careful regard as he studied her intently to make sure she was okay. His lips pressed together the same way, his jaw clenched the same, his shoulders were set exactly the same as Jade...Nino...Jade…

_Oh, fuck it._ Alya grumbled internally. _JaNino it is._

“It’s you?” Alya’s lips felt numb. “ _You’re_ Jade Turtle? Of _course_ it is - god, I hate magic, how could I not have seen it before? _It’s you._ All this time.”

“Ah...yeah.” Nino reached back and scrubbed an embarrassed hand over the back of his neck, cheeks heating as he looked at her bashfully through his lashes. Alya knew the expression well - she’d seen it _dozens_ of times, on _two_ faces. “I know it’s kind of a shock, but-”

“Shock doesn’t quite cover it.” Alya mumbled. “And to think, Chat was even cracking jokes about both of us going out on a date on Valentine’s Day. ‘Wouldn’t it be crazy if you two were dating each other and didn’t know it?’ And you’re all like ‘I think I’d know if my girlfriend was a superhero!’ _Ha._ ”

Nino’s mouth dropped open, and his hands fell limply to his sides. “Wha-? But-...How did _you-?_ ”

Groaning, Alya dropped her face into her hands. “That stupid cat is going to laugh himself _sick_ , isn’t he?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let the readjusting begin!


	13. I'm a Ninja

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien just wants some freaking dinner. Is that too much to ask?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 10: Secret Sleepover

It was dark. It was late. If they were caught, they’d be in _big trouble_. Nino’s mom thought he was at Adrien’s house (ha! As if!). Nathalie thought Adrien was at Nino’s house (because, face it, they all knew she was the real parent - Gabriel Agreste was just a front).

Neither of them were at the other’s house.

Nino eyed the rickety fire escape dubiously. The ladder up to the second floor ended about three meters above the pavement...really, did the fire station think that was a safe distance for fleeing civilians to jump? It ending that high seemed ridiculous.

“It’s safety code.” Adrien said behind him. “So people can get into the alley without hitting their head, or damaging the top of their car.”

_“Shh!”_ Nino hissed, reaching out to snag his friend’s collar and dragging him against the wall as a car cruised by. “Jeez, man, you’re a terrible sneak.” He whispered.

Adrien blinked.

“Alright, so here’s what we’re gonna do.” Nino said, nodding decisively. “I’m going to put you on my shoulders, and you help pull me up, okay?”

“What, why?” Adrien asked. “You don’t want me to push you up?”

“Um, no offense dude,” Nino said. “But I weight like ten kilos more than you.”

“...So you think I’ll have an easier time pulling you up?” Adrien asked incredulously.

“...We’ll make it work.” Nino said, then cringed when Adrien lobbed his backpack onto the landing with a resounding _clang._ “Dude! Quiet!”

“Sorry.” Adrien said apologetically as Nino kneeled down in front of him facing away so Adrien could climb onto his shoulders. “I still don’t understand why-”

Nino stood, looking up at his poor, simple friend in annoyance. “No, you don’t. This is a _secret sleepover_ , dude. You can’t just waltz in the front.”

“Okay okay…” Adrien reached up, snagging the bottom rung of the ladder and using it to lever himself up until he was able to reach the platform hanging just a few feet above it. Turning around, he lay down on his stomach, reaching down towards his best friend. “Umm….Nino… I don’t think you thought this one through.”

Adrien’s hands didn’t reach more than a few inches past the lowest rung.

“Well, damn.” Nino muttered, studying the ladder in irritations.

“Well, I guess we’ll just have to-”

“No, wait!” Nino pointed excitedly. “The ladder folds down!”

Adrien leaned back down to study the ladder. It did indeed fold - what he thought had just been a triple rung was actually three sections stacked on top of each other with a clip holding them upright. Pursing his lips, he struggled with the catch, grinning when it finally released and he was able to push the ladder down.

Grinning, Nino scrambled up. The two boys pulled the pieces back up and secured them before continuing up the vertical fire escape.

“Dude, you have to be _quiet_.” Nino snapped as Adrien clattered onto the third story platform. “You’re going to get us caught!”

“By _who?_ ” Adrien demanded in exasperation.

“Um, every platform is in front of someone’s apartment, man.” Nino replied. “If they hear us, they’re going to think we’re burglars or something.”

Adrien slapped a hand over his face. “You’re telling me somebody might call the cops on us?”

“Yes.”

_“Why_ are we doing this?”

“Um, duh.” Nino rolled his eyes. “ _Secret_ sleepover. With the _girls_.”

Adrien stared at him.

“And because I’m a ninja.” Nino added.

“Oh my god- I can’t even-” Adrien shoved him towards the ladder. “Just _go._ ”

They made it up to the fourth floor with little issue, and were soon crouched under Alya’s window. Frowning in concentration, Nino reached out and prodded the window. Luckily since it was the one over the fire escape, it didn’t have a screen, but… 

Score! Nino thought. It was unlocked, too. Using his fingertips for leverage, Nino pressed the glass upwards, eventually wiggling his fingers underneath and pushing the window fully open. 

Adrien sighed and stood up. Reaching out, Nino yanked him back down.

“Are you trying to get us caught?” He whispered harshly.

“By _who!_ ” Adrien whisper-yelled back. Rolling his eyes, Nino ignored him and cautiously peered inside, before quickly tossing his backpack through the window and diving after it.

Bouncing off of the couch cushions, Nino rolled onto the floor and jerked upwards into a crouch, peering around surreptitiously.

“Nino,” Alya asked from her place in front of the tv, “what are you _doing?_ ”

Marinette, who was seated next to her on a sleeping bag, nodded in mute agreement.

_“Seriously?”_ Nino glared at her. “Did _nobody_ else get the memo that it was a _secret_ sleepover?”

“But...my parents are out of town. _We invited you over._ ” Alya said in confusion, shifting on her sleeping bag to stare at him. “We could have just buzzed you up.”

“Tell me about it.” Adrien grumbled as he climbed in the window and shut it behind him. “ _Someone_ insisted that we had to sneak in, anyway.”

“None of you are any fun.” Nino declared.

“It’s okay Nino.” Marinette smiled. “I get you.”

“Thank you, Marinette.” Nino beamed. “Alya, babe...I’m sorry. You’ll just have to settle for the sunshine child.”

“Oh no.” Alya said dryly. “You’re telling me I’ll have to settle for intelligent, kind, not to mention rich and famous _literal_ supermodel? Nooo... Nino, please don’t go.”

“Alya.” Adrien knelt by her side, reaching out and clasping her hand. Bringing it to his lips, he stared into her eyes dramatically. “My love. My light. My life.”

“Hoo, look at you go.” Alya fluttered her hand around her cheeks dramatically. “ _Do_ go on.”

“Like a fair maiden locked away, I have scaled your tower and entered your domain, but-”

“Man, he’s laying it on thick.” Nino mock-whispered to Marinette, who only giggled in response.

“-I have to know.” Adrien continued, ignoring them completely. “No, I _need_ to know.”

“Yes?” Alya batted her eyelashes at Adrien outrageously. 

“Do you have anything to eat? I’m starving.” Adrien batted his eyelashes right back, grinning.

Alya hooted with laughter, eventually toppling over with her hand still clasped in Adrien’s as he grinned at her unrepentantly.

“Well...since you asked so nicely…” Alya grinned once she got herself under control. Standing, she used the hand Adrien was still holding to tug him upright and towards the kitchen. “Let’s see what we can find for you.”

“Hey Nino.” 

Nino blinked, looking over towards where Marinette was looking at him, mischief shining in her eyes.

“Yes?” Nino’s eyebrow cocked questioningly. “Would you like me to teach you my mad awesome ninja skill, Mari berry?”

“Better.” Marinette leaned forward conspiratorially. “Want to come back tomorrow and see if we can sneak into Alya’s bedroom?”

Nino’s lips pursed. “Like, what time?”

“Midnight.” Marinette gave him a look like he was stupid. “Isn’t that when all good ninjas strike?”

Nino beamed. “I knew I loved you for a reason.”

Marinette reached out, and Nino obligingly slapped their palms together.

 

_The next night...._

Getting into Alya’s room was _not_ easy. The ledge around the building was only jutted out a measly eighteen centimeters, and Nino’s fingertips where they were forced to dig into the grooves between bricks were raw and scraped.

He and Marinette had met at half past eleven, to give themselves a full thirty minutes to sneak into Alya’s room before springing their Midnight Surprise on her. Now that he knew about the extendable ladder, getting up to their apartment was child’s play - and Marinette was a _much_ better sneak than a disgruntled supermodel. Marinette had even procured several meters of 550 cord, to loop around their waists to give some measure of safety to their scheme: one of them could get to Alya’s window and get in while the other was still securely on the fire escape platform. Marinette had even cracked Alya’s window before she left, so they wouldn’t have to risk their balance trying to pry it open.

What they _hadn’t_ counted on what Chat Noir joining the party.

“What are you two idiots doing?”

Marinette, who was on the fire escape while Nino was balanced on the small cement jutt, fingers dug into the groove between bricks as he made his way over, glared.

“ _Shhh!_ Jeez, Chat, are you trying to get us _caught?_ ” 

Nino paused in his trek to gape. He wasn’t sure what surprised him more - the superheroes appearance, or Marinette casually scolding him for questioning their breaking and entering antics. Also, that a superhero had just called him an idiot.

“Umm...yes?” Chat had released his baton and was casually balanced on the fire escape railing, staring down at Marinette. “I mean… you’re looking really suspicious here, Princess.”

_Princess?_ Chat Noir called Marinette _Princess?_ Marinette _let_ Chat Noir call her Princess? Nino was a little blown away by all of the revelations being casually tossed around, even as he jealously eyeballed Chat standing casually on the thin railing of the fire escape.

“We’re not _suspicious._ ” Marinette sniffed, then paused. “Okay, so maybe we are. But Alya has it coming!”

“Enlighten me.” Chat deadpanned.

“She questioned our ninja skills.” Marinette said, as if that would explain everything.

“So breaking into her room in the middle of the night is a good way to challenge that?” Chat asked. “Actually...it is pretty good. But you’re going to scare the crap out of her, you realize that right?”

“That’s kind of the point.” Nino spoke up from the ledge, shifting his shoulders to adjust the backpack more comfortably.

“Do I even want to know how you’re doing that?” Chat asked him.

“Duh.” Nino replied. “Because I’m a ninja.”

“Right.” Chat drawled. “Well, I guess I’d better stick around and make sure you two idiots don’t get killed.”

“Wait - you’re not going to stop us?” Nino asked, confused. 

“What good would that do?” Chat asked. “She-” he jerked his thumb back at Marinette, who was making faces at his back “-would just be back tomorrow or something, even if I did call the cops. And I know Marinette isn’t a thief, and that Alya is her best friend. I know you’re dating Alya, and _I know Marinette is making faces at me so quit it!_ ” He finished, whirling around to jab a finger towards Marinette, who only grinned unrepentantly and waggled her fingers at him.

“This is insane.” Nino decided. “The superhero is actually encouraging us to scare the hell out of The Ladyblogger herself? You know she’s gonna roast you, right?”

“Ah. Let me make this clear.” Chat objected, raising one clawed finger. “I am not encouraging this - I just know the futility of trying to stop you. So I’m doing my superhero duty and making sure you don’t die.”

“You’re my hero, Chat Noir.” Marinette said happily.

“Stuff it, you.” Chat replied. “I expect cookies for this. Forget Alya - _Ladybug_ is going to kill me if she finds out I allowed this.”

“Nah.” Marinette chirped. “I bet she knows how to have fun once in awhile, too.”

“We’re going to discuss how the hell you two are so cozy, later.” Nino grumbled, inching along the edge and digging his fingers under Alya’s windowpane. “Is this why you gave up on Adrien, Mari? Because Cat Boy encourages your delinquent ways?”

“I will drop you off that ledge.” Marinette said sweetly.

“Adrien?” Chat shifted slightly so he could see Marinette while still keeping an eye on Nino. 

“Nobody.” Marinette said firmly. “Nino is insane.”

“ _Nino_ is right here, and perfectly sane.” Nino rebutted softly, easing Alya’s curtains aside

“That’s debatable.” Chat quipped. “But now this cat is curious.”

“You know what they say about cats and curiosity.” Marinette replied in a sing-song voice, smiling pleasantly.

“You know what they say about satisfaction.” Chat replied in the same tone.

“That way does not lead to satisfaction, only death.” Marinette said firmly, her pleasant smile still fixed on her face.

Nino leaned back in the window. “Dude, she’s not even in her bed.” He whispered loudly. “What the hell?”

“Are you serious?” Marinette hissed. “We came all this way for nothing? Where could she be.”

“Right behind you.”

Marinette whirled and Nino gaped as Alya emerged from her own living room window to stand on the fire escape, arms crossed and toes tapping as she scowled at them.

“No way!” Nino gaped. “How did you know we were here?”

“We were really sneaky.” Marinette whined.

“Are those...Ladybug pajamas?” Chat asked. 

“First, you are _not _sneaky - you’re about as subtle as a herd of elephants in a china shop. I heard you idiots arguing five minutes ago. Second, yes these _are_ Ladybug pajamas - I'm the Ladyblogger, I can do shit like that. Third, what is _Chat freaking Noir_ doing here helping your fools out?” Alya demanded, pointing at Chat Noir, who was still standing on her fire escape railing. __

__“Easy.” Chat shrugged. “I’m a ninja.”_ _

____

____

Nino chortled, Marinette giggled, and Alya dragged a hand down her face. 

“You’re all idiots.” She declared. 

“But we’re _your_ idiots.” Marinette grinned. 

“Even the superhero?” Alya considered. “That’s cool...at least you bring good company, I guess. Why don’t you weirdos stop lurking on my balcony and just come inside though? It’s a little chilly out.” 

“I’m already inside.” Nino pointed out, untying the cord from around his waist and catching the end Marinette tossed him. 

“Then get out of my bedroom!” Alya frowned. “Go pop some popcorn or something.” 

“I should probably get going, actually.” Chat said, pulling his baton out from it’s holster at his back. Lightening quick, Marinette reached out and plucked it from his grasp. 

“Hey!” Chat’s ears flicked backwards as his mouth dropped open. 

“Here Kitty, Kitty…” Marinette taunted, then turned and tossed the baton through the open window. “Fetch!” 

“I am not a dog.” Chat said stiffly. 

“No,” Alya sounded amused as she moved aside to let a laughing Marinette crawl through the window. “But apparently you’re now a member of the Secret Sleepover Club. So get your ass in there.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this isn't getting out until late - real life beckons. My house is a disaster, I have no idea what's for dinner, we've got karate soon, and I've got a few projects to finish. The Mr. is heading out of town tomorrow, so I'm left to keep Calamity, Chaos, Catastrophe and their sidekick The Dog, alive until he returns in a few months. 
> 
> Catastrophe: "Calamity, move! Now, or I'm gonna push you!"  
> Calamity: "Make me!"  
> Chaos: "Use your butt! Use your butt! Use your butt!"  
> *sound of legos being thrown*  
> Friend1: "Why is this mermaid naked?"  
> Chaos: "Na-ked! Na-ked! Na-ked!"  
> Calamity: "I need my mom's scissors."  
> Friend2: "Look! It's Nextdoor Girl!"  
> *small horde of undersized, sugar-high elephants stampedes out the door screaming*
> 
> THIS IS MY LIFE.


	14. The Plushie Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA The story in which Plagg orchestrates a reveal in order to demand a toy.  
> AKA The Reveal Fic you didn't need...but got anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 11: Plushies/ Stuffed Animals  
> Prompt 22: whoops!

Over the years, Marinette had considered all of the things that might lead to somebody discovering her identity. Getting caught making excuses, running out of time on her transformation, a slip of the tongue… She had a list. 37 Things to Worry About.

Her hobby of making plushies had never even made the list. Which, in hindsight was pretty funny, because she had even considered how _flour_ might get her in trouble eventually. Because she might forget that some was on her, and meet up with Chat for patrol, and he’d notice the flour and wonder if she worked in a bakery (she took him home made treats often enough) and then connect the dots that his friend _Marinette_ worked in a bakery and…

Well, she always made sure she was flour-free before she left the house.

She also made sure not to actually sew any of her superhero-themed designs in case they were too accurate, or let on that Chat Noir sometimes visited her house, or repeat any of his awful, terrible, _damningly catchy_ jokes. Her experience with Chloe ensured that she didn’t even write about her superhero activities in her journal.

And, really, she’d sewed all of the akuma they’d squared off against. She’d given Chat a Ladybug/Chat Noir plushie for Christmas the past year (and he’d given her a charm bracelet). She sewed dolls of her friends, and for her friends. She sewed them to sell and for local children’s hospitals. 

So they weren’t exactly _rare_ , but they weren’t exactly all over either. They were something you had in your room on a shelf if you were older and were allowed to carry around if you were younger. So when Tikki started describing the other kwami, Marinette found them positively enchanting, and, with Tikki’s help, she’d sketched them out. They’d sat in her sketchbook for all of a week before she’d given into the urge to sew them.

She was _careful_ , she made sure that nobody saw her designs, and that they fit in with the other little animal plushies she’d sewn: little dogs and cats, tigers and hamsters. She took the extra precaution of putting in the back in the evenings, when Chat Noir might be inclined to drop by - she wasn’t sure if he knew what the rest of the kwami looked like, but if Tikki had told her, it wasn’t that much of a stretch to imagine Plagg describing them to Chat.

When they got a last-minute group history project, and Alya asked if the four of them could do research at her house, Marinette hadn’t given her plushies a second thought - she was too busy freaking out because _Adrien_ was her partner.

They’d gone to her house after school, library books under arm and cookies in hand, to break out their tablets and make outlines on the last major war and it’s highlights. 

She’d cleansed her room back when Chat had started dropping by regularly, because _wow_ , she did _not_ want have to explain her weird obsession with her classmate to him. So Adrien didn’t really have anything weird he could find that would out her mega embarrassing ultra-crush - a few of her favorite pictures wasn’t unusual, she figured, since he was modeling his dad’s clothing and she was a designer that greatly admired said dad. Still, him being _in her room_ was enough to send her hyperventilating - had she remembered to change her desktop background? Was that one framed picture still up next to her bedside? 

So, in her haste and panic to make sure the room was Adrien-free and no lingering evidence was to be found, Marinette didn’t give a thought to him examining her plushie collection on a shelf. Nor did she think anything of it when he found the black cat one, paused, then reached over and hesitantly picked it up.

“H-hey, Marinette?” He wasn’t facing her, so she didn’t see the confusion, concern, and shock that all chased themselves across his features before he composed himself enough to turn to face her.

“Yes?” Marinette asked, proud that the words sounded mostly-normal. Next to her, Alya gave an encouraging smile.

“Ah, what is this?” Adrien asked, holding up the small black cat kwami that Tikki had described to her. Like the Chat Noir plushie she had up on her pillow, it had a small four leaf clover sewn into its little palm.

“O-Oh! Haah...That’s just a...a plushie I made a while ago!” Marinette laughed nervously. “Kind of like a bobble head - you know those American things where the heads are much bigger than the rest of the body? But I don’t do plastic, so…”

“I can see. It’s cute.” Adrien smiled at her nervously. “Um. What did you say it was called again?”

“Ju-just a plushie. It’s a cat.” Marinette said, gesturing at it, hoping he didn’t notice the six other kawmi-plushies scattered amongst the akuma and other dolls. 

“A black cat?” Adrien said. “Aren’t those unlucky?”

“Like Chat Noir?” Nino asked from over at her desk (looks like she had changed her background! Whew!).

“She has a Chat Noir plushie, too.” Alya added. “She gave me the Ladybug one, though. Totally beats best friend necklaces, am I right?” She giggled, elbowing Marinette.

“Yep! Totally!” Marinette grinned.

“Oh, so you made these?” Adrien asked.

“Yes.” Marinette nodded. “I made all of them.”

“That’s neat.” Adrien said brightly. “You’re really talented, Marinette.”

Marinette tried not to combust as Adrien set the Plagg plushie down carefully and wandered back towards them. And if he gave her strange looks for the rest of the day, well, it was nothing new - she certainly did enough strange things to warrant them.

 

That night, Chat Noir dropped by. 

“These are really neat, Princess.” He said, studying her shelf. “Did you make all of them?”

“Of course.” Marinette smiled. “You know I gave you the Ladybug and Chat set for Christmas right?”

“I’m just surprised you made the akuma, to.” Chat responded.

“They’re surprisingly popular.” Marinette replied. “What game did you want to play?”

“You really have to ask?” Chat grinned, and Marinette popped in the UMS3 disc that was already sitting by her console. “Is this everything you’ve made?”

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked as she booted the game up. “I give a bunch to hospitals and kids and classmates and stuff.”

“But all the ones you have right now - is this all of them?” Chat persisted. “You haven’t given any away recently, have you?”

“What?” Marinette frowned. “Not since like, a week and a half ago. Why? Did you see somebody running around copying my work?”

That was always a concern: somebody would see her designs and try to steal them to profit off of them. Which is why Marinette’s were always signed.

“No.” Chat shook his head and wandered over to perch in her computer chair. “I was just thinking you had more, for some reason.”

Could he know about the kwami plushies she had hidden in her closet? Had she forgotten to put them away at some point, and now her shelf looked more empty than he remembered? 

Marinette shook her head, and wondered if maybe she shouldn’t get rid of the little plushies - they were quite a headache. But...Tikki loved them. She had told Marinette repeatedly that they reminded her of happier times with her old friends. And she didn’t want to destroy them, but she couldn’t risk them getting out into the public, either.

Maybe Master Fu could give them a good home?

Disquieted, Marinette returned her attention to the game.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

Three days later, Marinette is invited inside the Agreste mansion. 

It wasn’t the first time she’d been in Adrien’s house - Akuma attacks notwithstanding. Gabriel didn’t like people in his house, but he was out of town for almost six months out of the year, and Nathalie has as much as said that she had no control over what Adrien did after she left for the day. Gorilla lived somewhere in the mansion was the de facto adult, but he merely smiled a little smile and went to his own room without a word ten minutes after Nathalie departed. The cook and maid both liked Adrien and said nothing at all about Gabriel, so they were willing partners in crime unless he did something stupid. 

So Marinette had been to Adrien’s house, though admittedly infrequently. Nino was there more often, and Alya was there once in awhile as well. They’d even spent the night a few times, and those evening in the company of her crush were some of Marinette’s happiest memories.

Marinette would never have noticed the plushies had she not tripped and her cell phone sent flying. Adrien wasn’t the type to leave things in the middle of the floor - or, at least, the maid wasn’t anyway - so Marinette had no earthly idea what she’d even fallen over. All she’d known was that one minute she was walking, staring at her phone to read a text from Alya regarding their chemistry homework, and the next she was falling ass-over-tea kettle with her phone arching through the air.

_Whoops._

“Marinette! Are you okay?” Adrien gawked from over by his computer. One screen already had their outline pulled up, and his fingers were poised above the keys as he gaped at her.

“Yeah, fine.” Marinette groaned, cursing her clumsiness as she searched around for her phone.

Thank goodness her parents had gotten her a life proof case…

Finally, she located it, it’s little charm sticking out from under Adrien’s bed. Blushing at being so close to where Adrien slept, she bent over to scoop it up when she saw _them._

Chat Noir and Ladybug, propped up against each other, guarding a framed picture of a blonde woman that Marinette knew to be his mother.

_Adrien_ had Chat Noir and Ladybug plushies…? Marinette wondered dimly. Her hand clutched nervously at her phone as she stared at them. Maybe he’d gotten them off of the internet? Maybe they were knock-offs of her own design, maybe…

Numb fingers reached out, unthinkingly picking up the black cat plush, thumb caressing a sewn on cat ear even as she stared at the little four leaf clover stitched onto its palm - the match of her _own_ Chat plush, _and_ the black cat kwami on her shelf.

Straightening, Marinette couldn’t stop herself from flipping the plush upside down, searching for the tiny _MDC_ sewn onto the bottom of the foot for her signature. 

“Marinette?”

Adrien had started towards her, frowning as he saw what she held in her hand.

“Wh...Where did you get these?” Marinette forced the words past numb lips.

“Oh, those?” Adrien’s hand reached up to rub the back of his neck - the biggest nervous tell Marinette had ever seen in her _life_. “A...friend gave them to me. For Christmas last year.”

“Really?” Marinette mumbled, sliding the phone into her back pocket so she could clutch at the tiny Chat Noir doll - a perfect copy of _her partner_ \- with trembling hands. 

She wanted to run. She wanted to hide, and rewind, and pretend she had never seen the plushies. She shouldn’t have touched them, or drawn attention to them, or... _anything_ that had happened in the past five minutes! She should have just ignored them and gone to finish her report. She shouldn’t have dropped her damn phone. 

But she had. She had dropped her phone, she had seen the plushies, she had picked them up and drawn attention to them. And Adrien - _Chat_ \- didn’t lie. If she asked him flat out, he wouldn’t lie. Not to her. 

Worse, now that she knew, she couldn’t _un_ know. There was no taking it back, to pretending it didn’t happen. Trying to do so would only force them both into an uncomfortable, and possibly dangerous, awkwardness around each other. 

So, bearing all of that in mind, Marinette forced herself to drag her gaze up to meet his. Forced herself to look him in the eye and ask in a steady voice “ _Who_ gave them to you, Adrien?”

Adrien paused. Marinette remained silent while he held a brief internal debate before he finally sighed. “You did.”

Marinette swallowed compulsively. “So then, you’re…”

“Chat Noir.” Something in Adrien’s stance hardened; his hand lowered, his jaw firmed and his eyes rose to meet hers resolutely. “Yes, My Lady, I am.”

Marinette’s eyes blew wide even as she choked on a gasp. “You know-!”

“That you’re Ladybug. Yes.” Adrien replied, his voice surprisingly even.

I the space between heartbeats, Marinette went from blind, terrified shock to blazing, righteous _fury._

“How long have you known?” she hissed, fingers tightening around the tiny Chat’s middle.

Adrien’s eyes widened in the face of her anger and he suddenly looked much less sure. “I- just a few days now. I just figured it out the other day. It was...quite a shock, you know?”

Marinette sighed, unable to hold on to her upset entirely. It wasn’t completely gone, but she also knew Chat - and Adrien. Neither boy was deliberately cruel, and he knew her feelings on the subject, so if he’d found out, she’d trust that it had been an honest accident, not a curious cat who was unable to stop prying.

“How did you find out?” Marinette asked, dropping her phone on the bed before setting the Chat Noir doll carefully up against his partner - supporting each other, as they always did.

Adrien followed her towards his couch, detouring towards his mini fridge to gather up a few water bottles first. Homework was going to have to wait; they had other business to attend to.

She waited until he sat down - opting to perch on the edge of the coffee table rather than next to her on the couch.

“So.” Adrien cleared his throat. “I, um, saw your kwami collection the other day.”

Marinette slapped a hand over her face. _Of course._

“I was so careful…” She whined to herself.

“Yeah, they weren’t there that night.” Adrien shrugged. “I was half wondering if I’d just imagined it. Or maybe it was coincidence that your little bobble doll looked like Plagg.”

“I told you so.”

“Yes, Plagg,” Adrien sighed. “You did.”

A little black kwami was suddenly hovering near Adrien’s shoulder, cheese clasped between two tiny little paws.

Marinette blinked as she stared at the animated version of the little plushie that sat on her shelf.

“Marinette, this is Plagg. Plagg, Marinette.” Adrien said politely.

Plagg snorted. “I know who she is, kid.”

“I realize that,” Adrien said wryly. “I’m just using my manners to make polite introductions.”

“Humans are so weird.” Plagg grumbled, taking another bite of cheese. “So, Ladybug...where’s my plushie?”

“You want a plushie?” Marinette asked, surprised at how rude this little creature was.

“”Tikki,” Plagg sniffed, “has been bragging about those stupid dolls for weeks. I didn’t even get a good look at me the other day - how fair is that?”

“You’re incorrigible.” Tikki scolded as she zipped out of Marinette’s purse. “Can’t you even give these two a moment before you start barging in with your demands?”

Plagg blinked. “Cat.”

“Translation: no, he cannot.” Adrien said to Marinette.

Tikki huffed. “Come on, you old cat - let’s give the children a minute alone.”

“But _Tikki…_ ” Plagg complained loudly but didn’t resist as Tikki snagged his arm and dragged him off. “She didn’t promise me a _plushieeee…_ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never underestimate the difficulty of writing while a child demands a conversation about Hawaii in the 1820s and Siphonophorae. Is this what normal kids talk about? What the hell does he even know about Hawaii in the 1820s anyway?


	15. Mon Coeur

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 12: Mon Coeur (my heart)

Gabriel’s heart was gone. It was missing. He didn’t know where it was, but he was sure that it was still alive. It was just...somewhere else, beating without him for a while. Something was in his chest, a shoddy replacement that kept his blood circulating and his brain functioning, but his heart? 

Well, he would find it someday.

Nino’s heart was in his music. When he wasn’t doodling notes on his homework and tapping melodies on his textbooks, he dreaming in measures and bass lines. His music had consumed him, until he met Adrien. Then Alya, and through her became better acquainted with Marinette.

They were like songs played on different instruments: cool jazz on a wailing sax was how he thought of Adrien. A pop-y powerhouse with a throbbing bass was Alya. Marinette was an eclectic mix of electric guitar, violin and high, whimsical flute. For himself, he thought of a wordless, classical music remixed to a techno beat.

Each with their own beat, their own melody - they should have sounded terrible together, but in his heart, they were a great symphony.

Alya’s heart was with the people - it was why journalism was so attractive to her. She was a one-woman crusade determined to expose the truth. To right the wrongs, to empower the weak and to bring down the tyrants. Justice for all. 

And justice started at home - she was enraged for Adrien, supportive of Marinette and encouraging of Nino. She chased superheros and got the backstories of the akuma victims. She always strove to treat everyone fairly - even if that meant fairly skewering them to a wall on occasion.

Nathanael’s heart was on his sleeve. Every stroke of his pen, pencil or brush betrayed his emotions. If his heart wasn’t in it, he couldn’t draw it, but when he drew there was such passion involved that nobody could deny that he gave every scribble and masterpiece everything he had.

Kim’s heart was in his feet (though Alix would argue that it was in his stomach). He used his feet for everything. He was in constant motion. He tapped his toes in class, rolled his ankles when he was relaxing, kicked his legs when he was excited and ran when he wasn’t doing anything else. But his favorite thing to do with them was chase Alix - after all, she never held still, either.

Max’s heart a numerical value. Beats per minute, liters per hour, the number of cells that made up the structure. Logic and reason were to him what measures and melodies were to Nino: he lived them and breathed them. 

Everything was calculable, except how much he cared for Alix and Kim. That, he reasoned, must be infinite. 

Marinette thought she must have multiple hearts: two, to cover her two seperate lives. Marinette loved Adrien, her friends and sewing. She was a good girl, an average student, and an incredible talent that couldn’t seem to be anywhere on time. She was steady and dependable and sweet.

Ladybug...was more complicated. (But then again, was being a hero ever simple?) Ladybug was her _duty._ She was strong and steady and _fierce_ \- she had to be, to protect the people of Paris. Marinette liked to think that she loved the people first and her partner second...but that would have been a lie.

When it came to love, Marinette and Ladybug’s hearts beat a discordant rhythm. 

Adrien’s heart was torn. He wanted to love his family, but it had broken into pieces, and no amount of tape could hold it together. He loved his friends, but they could never really know all of him.

He loved being Chat Noir, because Chat Noir was everything Adrien wasn’t allowed to be: fierce and protective, loud and reckless and _fun._

Adrien and Chat both loved Ladybug so fiercely that sometimes it stole their breath away. Every piece of him was struck dumb in light of her radiance, so much so that he thought he might go blind from it.

However, with Marinette, Adrien and Chat Noir both found a peace that had eluded them in every other aspect of themselves. Despite having to wear a mask to approach her, he could always be _himself._ No expectations to be quiet and dutiful, or loud and reckless. He wasn’t desperate to please her however he could - his presence was pleasing enough and even though she often groaned and sighed, she was always waiting to let him in.

If Ladybug was his breath, he often thought, then Marinette was his heart.


	16. Elation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 13: Elation

“We’re alive!” Ladybug whispered. “Oh _my god_ , we’re alive!”

“Did you think we wouldn’t be?” Chat laughed, a breathless sound tinged with elation and desperation as he lay next to her on the roof.

“I don’t know. I had no idea.” Ladybug admitted, grinning up at the sky. “It’s just...he always seemed like this huge, titan-like creature, you know? I never thought we’d beat him.”

“He was only a man.” Chat murmured as their Miraculous beeped a warning. “A rich and powerful man, sure, but only a man.”

“And now he’s in jail.” Ladybug’s head tilted curiously. “I wonder if they’ll make him a designer jumper?”

Hawkmoth was defeated. Four years, countless tears and frustrations and near-misses, but eventually it was done. Luckily, once his Miraculous was taken, Gabriel had seemed to lose heart. Faced with their combined powers, his Miraculous in their hands and _his wife’s kwami_ hovering disapprovingly at their shoulder and ready to lend aid, he’d bowed his head and surrendered.

“Maybe. Probably not. But he’ll be allowed to wear regular clothing for his hearing, of course.” Chat murmured. “He's facing jail time...but he didn’t kill anybody, so he’ll probably get a reduced sentence.”

“Good.” Ladybug murmured, ignoring the second beep.

“Good?” Chat looked towards her, eyebrows raised. “I thought after the past four years, you’d be gunning to have him drawn and quartered, My Lady.”

“No.” Ladybug shook her head. “He’s not a murderer...he did a lot of harm, but he was never malicious. There was so much more, so many worse akumas he could have created, and he never did. He needs _help_ , honestly. And…”

Ladybug paused as their Miraculous beeped.

“And?” Chat prompted. 

“And...it’ll be easier on Adrien this way.” Ladybug admitted.

“His son?” Chat frowned.

“Yeah.” Ladybug laughed ruefully. “I guess it’s a good thing he had university classes today - I’d hate for him to have been there to see us storm his house to fight his father. His dad was the only family he had left.”

“And finding out at class will be easier for him?” Chat ignored the fourth beep.

“No.” Ladybug shook her head. “But...Adrien is nineteen. He’s a legal adult. He won’t be tossed around the courts or fought over by gold diggers. It sounds strange to say that I’m glad it took us four years to defeat Hawkmoth, but...I am. I don’t want Adrien to suffer any more.”

“You sound as if you know him.” Chat murmured.

“Our Miraculous.” Ladybug reminded him.

“It’s over.” Chat replied. “No more akuma. You have the borach to return to Master Fu. Would it be so bad if we knew, now?”

Ladybug’s face softened. “No, I guess not. Do you really want to know, Kitty? You may be surprised by what you find.”

“I want to know your face more than I want my next breath.” Chat admitted breathlessly, reaching up to cup her cheek.

Ladybug leaned into his touch. “I...want you to know, too. You’re my best friend. I love you. I want to share my life with you, not just a piece of it.”

“I want that too.” Chat leaned down and pressed his forehead against hers. “And...you’re wrong.”

“Wrong? About what?” Ladybug asked, rubbing the tip of her nose against his affectionately. 

“Father wasn’t my only family.” Chat murmured as the suit began to melt away. “I have distant relatives in Italy, Germany and Switzerland. But my family was you.”

Ladybug’s mouth dropped open as pink swirled around her form.

“It was you.” Chat continued as green sparks blazed upwards to reveal familiar sneakers, and black gloves peeled backwards to showcase long, thin, familiar fingers. “You, and Nino, and Alya, and Mari- _Marinette?”_

“Hey.” Marinette smiled shyly, one hand reaching up to cup Tikki and nuzzle her against her cheek. The gesture was part affection and part nervousness, and Tikki understood that both of them were seeking reassurance. 

“You did well.” She said softly. “Both of you. Adrien, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s…” Adrien shrugged. “Well, it’s not _okay_ , and it won’t be for a long time. But, Marinette was right: it could be so much worse. We’re all here, safe. Nobody died, or was even hurt badly. My father will go to jail, but hopefully will get the help he needs. I’m an adult, so I won’t be shuffled off to some relative that I don’t know. 

“So, it’s not okay.” He continued, stroking Plagg idly as the kwami sat on his shoulder in a rare show of solidarity. “But it will be. I’ve got what I need, and that’s what matters.”

“And you have us.” Marinette added. “Me, and your friends.”

“And I have you.” Adrien pulled her into his arms, sighing when her hands wound around his ribs to pull him close as she buried her face in his shoulder. “I have what matters.”


	17. Telling the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ...is completely unintentional. Adrien learns a few things he didn't know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 14: Telling the Truth

“Hey Princess.”

Marinette turned, raising her eyebrow questioningly. “Chat? What are you doing here?”

“What?” Chat scratched his head. “You mean this isn’t a meeting of the secret sleepover club?”

“It must be pretty big secret if you’re the only one who knows about it.” Marinette grinned. 

“Nope - there’s a few people in the side alley trying to figure out how to sneak in.” Chat said dryly. “But that’s not what I’m here about.”

“You’re not here to tell me about my friends trying to break into my room?” Marinette looked amused. “You’re falling down on your duties there, supercat.”

“Somehow, I don’t think they’re a threat.” Chat said dryly. “In fact, I might go help them - I have no idea how they think they’re going to get up here.”

Marinette giggled. “Well, do you want to get a snack while we wait for them?”

“We’re going to wait?” Chat seemed amused. “Marinette, they’re going to have to give up eventually.”

“It’s Alya.” Marinette said.

“...Point.” Chat said. “Cookies?”

Marinette set her phone down, flipped her sketchbook closed and stood, stretching before she leaned over to open the trapdoor. Chat grinned at the view, appreciating the thin pajama shorts and surprisingly long legs, but quickly composing his face as Marinette glanced at him over her shoulder.

“Coming?” She asked as she headed down the stairs.

“Not yet.” Chat sniggered quietly as he followed her.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Chat waved her question away as he followed her down the stairs.

“Papa!” Marinette poked her head into her parent’s bedroom. “Chat stopped by to let me know that Alya is trying to sneak into my bedroom.”

“And Nino.” Chat added helpfully.

“Two idiots are trying to scale my balcony.” Marinette amended.

Chat heard an indistinct grumbling noise that sounded like _thanks_ and a disgruntled mumble of _teenagers_ before Marinette withdrew.

“Parents informed.” Marinette mock-saluted him as she continued towards the kitchen.

“So, _Purr_ incess,” Adrien began, once he had a cookie in hand and a glass of milk next to him. “What is this about Adrien?”

“Adrien?” Marinette, leaning against the counter next to him, paused with the cookie halfway to her mouth. “Was he down there too?”

“I didn’t see him.” Chat answered. “Why, were you hoping he’d show up?”

“He is a friend of mine.” Marinette pointed out. “Him tagging along wouldn’t be outside the realm of possibility.”

“And yet last week Nino said-”

 _“Oh.”_ Marinette grinned. “Jealous, Kitty?”

“He’s awfully pretty.” Chat said.

Marinette’s eyebrows rose and she turned part-way to get a better look at him. “ _Are_ you jealous? You _did_ hear Nino say I’d given up on him, right?” 

Chat took a bite of his cookie.

“Chat.” Marinette put her glass down and reached out to cup his cheek. “That was a long time ago.”

“Couldn’t be that long, you’ve only known him for, what, a few years?” Chat muttered.

“Three. Yeah, I’ve known him since I was fourteen.” Marinette’s head tilted curiously. “You are _not_ feeling insecure about a crush that ended two years ago.”

“Maybe a little.” Chat’s cat ears flattened. “The two of us are...pretty new. And he’s your friend. He’s available. He can take you on actual _dates_ , and be with you in public. Things I can’t do.”

“True.” Marinette said wryly. “You can’t do that now. And I’m okay with that - I’d rather have you safe than have you take me to dinner.”

“You’re too good for me.” Chat admitted. “I’d tell you who I was, if you’d let me.”

“I will, once I know that knowing who you are won’t compromise your safety.” Marinette rubbed her thumb over the bottom edge of his mask. “To tell you the truth, I wish you could tell me who you are, but…”

“It’s not safe. I know.” Chat sighed, placing his black gloved hand over hers and holding her hand as he rubbed his cheek against her palm. “I’m still going to worry.”

“Don’t.” Marinette smiled a little wryly. “Adrien never saw me as anything other than a friend. It didn’t hurt that I basically spent the first year stammering like an idiot...nobody was going to get out of the friend zone like that, especially not when I had such stiff competition.”

“He’s an idiot.” Chat said feverently.

“Maybe.” Marinette grinned. “But he’s also a good person. It wasn’t his fault he never returned my feelings, and now...well, I’m okay with the friend zone.”

“You undervalue yourself.” Chat grumbled, snaking an arm over her shoulders to pull her closer. 

“No I don’t.” Marinette argued, snuggling into Chat’s embrace. “Adrien and I have a strong friendship, and I value that. Besides, Nino has a running theory that Adrien’s crush on Ladybug was just a front so he didn’t have to keep making excuses for why he never had a girlfriend.”

Chat slapped a hand over his face. “Let me get this straight - Adrien is _gay?”_

“Maybe asexual? Alya thinks he’s actually bi, though.” Marinette’s forearms rested on Chat’s shoulders as she leaned back to grin at him. “Nino can’t fathom that someone who has the advantages of being rich, famous and ‘too damn pretty for his own good’ might choose to not use those to date every pretty girl he can.”

“ _Why_ are they so interested?” Chat grumbled. 

“Because he’s their friend?” Marinette shrugged. “The whole sexual awakening thing is kind of a big part of being a teenager, yet this boy has never shown interest in a girl outside of Ladybug, despite having every social and physical advantage possible. I think they’re trying to figure out if this is something that’s supposed to be a secret and he doesn’t want them to know, or if he’s just shy and therefore it’s open season to tease the hell out of him.”

Chat rolled his eyes. “Or he could just be a private person who doesn’t think his romantic life should be public consumption.”

Marinette tilted her head. “That _could_ be it, but...we’re not the public, we're his friends. Surely if he was serious about anyone, he’d at least mention her...him?...to us. Introduce us. That poor boy’s schedule is hectic enough that trying to keep his romantic and social relationships completely separate isn’t really feasible. And what would that poor girl - or boy - think, knowing that their love interest won’t introduce them to friends or family? I don’t think it would make them feel very loved.”

“So, in conclusion,” Chat pursed his lips, “because Adrien has never had a girlfriend, he’s gay, bi, asexual or an android.”

“Android?” Marinette’s eyebrows rose speculatively. “I hadn’t considered that one…”

“He’s probably not an android.” Chat said dryly.

“No! No, you might be onto something.” Marinette stepped back, eyes widening. “It would explain so much. I mean, that boy has _perfect_ skin. That’s not natural.”

“Are you _kidding_ me?” Chat groaned, following Marinette out of the kitchen. “It was a _joke_.”

“Ah ah ah, nope.” Marinette paused by the closet door to way her finger at him. “You started this.”

“What are you doing?” Chat asked as Marinette pulled out piles of blankets.

“Going to take these to my room.” Marinette shrugged. “So Alya and Nino, and Adrien if he shows up, have somewhere to sleep.” She grinned. “If Adrien even sleeps - maybe he just powers down?”

“You’re going to let them in?” Chat whined as she shoved a pile of pillows into his arms. “I thought they had to sneak in on their own.”

Marinette snorted. “You and I both know they’re not going to be able to scale that wall without superhero assistance.”

“I take it that’s my cue?” Chat’s lips twisted into a moue.

“Unless you think Ladybug will show up to help them out.” Marinette shrugged. “Although, I was just thinking I’d unlock the door and let them in.”

“Yet you and Nino were going wall to wall crawl last weekend?” Chat shook his head. 

“Well, sure. That was way easier.” Marinette nodded. “The bakery wall is a bit more difficult.”

“I don’t understand you people.” Chat muttered. “Were you all this crazy when we first met?”

“Probably.” Marinette grinned at him over her shoulder. “I mean, Alya has been chasing akuma since she was fourteen, and been dragging Nino with her. You started pole vaulting around Paris with me riding piggyback when I was, what? Fifteen?”

Chat watched Marinette lay down layers of blankets and dump pillows on top of them. “Yeah, you three aren’t exactly shining examples of sanity, are you?”

“Excuse me? Says the boy wearing a magical dominatrix outfit?” Marinette studied him, ignoring the way his jaw dropped at her words. “And what do you mean _‘you three?’_ Adrien… Actually, yeah, he’s pretty sane, isn't he? I mean, comparatively?”

Chat could only shake his head as Marinette headed back down the stairs.

“You really think he’s normal?” Chat asked, following her back down the stairs.

“Or an android.” Marinette said cheerfully. “Are you going to stick around for the sleepover? Or did you just drop by to let me know they were here, steal cookies and interrogate me about a crush that ended almost two years ago?”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Chat sighed. “Can I at least have a kiss before I go?

“Aw, does the kitty need reassurance?” Marinette cooed, pausing in the living room to face him. Fists planted on her hips, she favored him with a cocky smirk that reminded him uncomfortably of Ladybug even as his heart somersaulted in his chest.

So Chat responded in kind, giving her his best roguish grin, chin tilted challengingly an unconsciously angling himself in a way that he _knew_ showed him off to his best advantage.

“Princess, if that’s what it takes to earn a kiss, then I guess you can keep thinking that.” He taunted.

“Oh well, if the kitty doesn’t need reassurance…” Marinette turned, waving at him over her shoulder as she wandered towards the stairs. “Have a good night.”

Chat stared after her, smirk still firmly fixed in place. _Three...two...one…_

Marinette giggled, speeding down the steps as she heard him start after her. Chat caught her at the bottom, arm snaking around her waist as he hauled her against the door.

“I’m- supposed to be unlocking that, you know.” Marinette gasped out between giggles as he buried his face against her neck. 

“Then pay the toll, Princess.” Chat replied, grinning as he nipped at her skin.

“Ah! Chat.” Marinette tried for scolding, but it didn’t sound as stern as she had hoped. “No marks. People will ask questions.”

“I can put marks where they won’t see.” Chat responded as he nosed the strap of her tank top aside.

“Not right now you can’t.” Marinette replied. “If you’re not going to stay and chat, then give me a kiss and let me go retrieve my friends.”

“Make it a good one, and I’ll deliver them to you.” Chat murmured.

“Even android boy?” Marinette cocked her eyebrow at him speculatively.

“Android boy.” Chat snorted. “Yes, even him.”

“Well, that kind of selflessness does indeed deserve a kiss.” Marinette teased. “Though, to tell you the truth, I was going to kiss you anyway.”

“I never doubted it.” Chat replied as he sealed his lips over hers.

 

_Twenty Minutes Later…_

“Hey guys.” Adrien called as he trotted down the stairs from Marinette’s bed.

Alya, Mariette and Nino all turned to goggle at him.

“Dude, how did you get up there?” Nino demanded.

“Did Chat Noir give you a lift, too?” Alya asked.

Marinette craned her neck around and Adrien wondered if she wasn’t looking for the black-clad superhero.

“No, I didn’t see him. Why, was he here?” Adrien asked innocently, dropping his small drawstring bag next to Marinette’s chaise.

“Yeah, he helped Alya and Nino up.” Marinette replied.

“It was awesome!” Alya cheered. “He promised me an interview for the Ladyblog soon.”

“Bummer you missed him again.” Nino frowned.

“It is.” Adrien nodded. “So what are we doing?”

“Oh no, I don’t think so Sunshine child!” Alya pointed her finger at him dramatically as he sat down on the blanket pile and started poking around the tray of goodies in the middle. “Secret sleepover rules demands that you tell us how you got up here!”

“Easy.” Adrien shrugged. “I’m a ninja.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, Adrien did not go to Marinette's house thinking he was going to get laid - the "not yet" quip was actually just a silly, slightly pervy teenage boy being a silly, slightly pervy teenage boy. He actually got a text from Nino informing him that another meeting of the Secret Sleepover Society was taking place, but wanted to interrogate Marinette as Chat before he appeared as Adrien. Turns out he got more information than he bargained for!


	18. Ollie in

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: 15: Sunshower  
> Prompt 16: Flowers
> 
> Alix/Kim/Max!

“Weak sauce~” Alix sang, tiny fist planted on her hip and a smirk fixed firmly on her face. “God, Kim, when did you get so lame?”

_“What?”_ Kim gaped at the diminutive little nutcase in front of him. “ _Lame?_ Little girl, could you not see me from down there? The boardslide off the bike rack, with a kickflip, was pretty good. No wobble, no stutters. It was _perfection._ ”

“It was _basic_.” Alix rebutted as she swerved around a few pedestrians.

“And my technique was _phenomenal._ ” Kim spat back, frowning as he sped up to catch her.

“Yeah, yeah, good form.” Alix pretended to yawn. “Kudos. Want a rose or somethin’? Me to hold your hand and tell you what a good job you did?”

Kim scowled. “Can it, pipsqueak.” He growled as she laughed. “Where are we meeting Max, anyway?”

“Internet lounge over by the coffee shop. You know, the one with the uncomfortable chairs?” Alix replied, smartly popping her board into the air and over the curb. 

“What is he doing there?” Kim frowned. “We don’t need to drag him out again, do we? Dude’s got a problem. I’m supposed to meet Ambre later, and I need to shower and stuff.”

“Taking your girlfriend out?” Alix grinned evilly. “You’re going to need to do more than shower if you want to score there.”

“Please. Who do you think you’re talking to?” Kim sniffed. “I’ve got it planned - dinner, movie, even some flowers. Dad’s letting me borrow his car.”

“Flowers? Man you must really want some.” Alix stomped on the back of her board, kicking it up to catch it and tuck it under her arm. “I hope your daisies are more impressive than your board tricks.”

“Okay, first, my tricks are _good_.” Kim stated as he breezed past her and into the dimly lit lounge interior. “And second, I didn’t see you pull _any_ , so stop running your mouth.”

“No?” Alix tilted her head curiously. “Huh, I guess I didn’t. Okay; let’s go to the park.”

“Date?” Kim frowned, tapping his wrist expressively as they moved past the front counter. The woman waved at them airily - they’d been here often enough. Sometimes they played with Max, but neither of them really had the patience to sit still for extended periods of time. Kim less so than Alix, but even she got antsy after the first hour. So, mostly they came by to drag Max _out._

“What?” Alix drawled. “You’re going to call me out like that, then not let me prove my worth? Lê Chiến, I am appalled.”

“Are you now.” Kim said dubiously. 

“Downright insulted.” Alix nodded, stopping behind Max’s chair to tap his shoulder.

Max raised his finger, the universal signal for ‘one more minute’ as he muttered into his headset mic about it being his last run.

“You have time before your date.” Alix continued, leaning up against the divider between Max and the person next to him. “You’re not picking her up until, what, half past six?”

Kim’s eyebrow kicked up. “I didn’t know you were listening.”

Max and Kim had been discussing his date during lunch. Alix had been with them, as usual, but had been playing some game on her phone.

“Multi-tasking.” Alix said dryly. “I can do that.”

“You never said anything.” Kim shrugged, leaning over to investigate the mostly-empty cup by his friend’s wrist. The coffee here was pretty good, but Max liked to add a bunch of stuff to his that generally made it taste like ass. Seeing how much creamer had been added, Kim made a face. It probably had hazelnut syrup, too.

“What’s he got? Is it any good?” Alix asked, craning her neck to see.

“Don’t touch.” Max grunted, fingers pounding furiously at the keys as his screen lit up. 

“Dammit.” Alix grumbled. “I bet it’s a hazelnut latte.”

“Possibly.” Kim glanced at the screen. “Oi, Max? You done tanking that yet?

“I’m not the tank, I’m the healer.” Max said, before returning to his mutters about DPS and not standing inside acid circles. “There’s a pair of bracers I want.” He added, and Kim and Alix nodded, both used to his strange back-and-forth conversations between them and his party. 

“Cool, cool. Leveling up your shaman?” Kim asked.

“Yeah.” Max said, then slid him a side-long glance. “‘Course, I know _another_ shaman that could use levelling.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Kim said.

“Isn’t your shaman still stuck at level _fifteen?_ ” Alix wondered aloud. “You know kicking it up a few levels would only take like, three quest chains, right?”

“That’s three quest chains more than I’m willing to do.” Kim replied. “I only created that character to try to understand what the hell Max was talking about.”

“Do you?” Alix blinked and tilted her head curiously.

“Not at all.” Kim said cheerfully.

“Why do you even play?” Alix’s face twisted into a look of confusion. “Even your tank has been on the same level for three weeks.”

Max snorted. “You’re such a paladin.” He said, pushing back from the chair and picking up his cup. Slinging his book bag over his shoulder, he started walking towards the exit. 

“See?” Kim said to Alix, nodding at their friend. “That is why I play: I wouldn’t understand a word he says otherwise.”

“He loses me as soon as ratios start popping out of his mouth.” Alix nodded in agreement.

“I can hear you, you know.” Max said dryly, tossing his empty cup into the trash next to the door and stepping outside. “Where are we headed, anyway?”

“Home.” Kim replied.

“Skate park.” Alix said at the same time.

Kim frowned at her. “Tiny child says what now?”

“I’m sorry, were you too high up?” Alix smiled at him sweetly, and he didn’t trust the look even a little. “I said _skate. Park!_ ” She cupped her hands over her mouth helpfully.

“I _heard_ you, little mouse.” Kim rolled his eyes as he buckled his helmet under his chin. “I want to know _why_.”

“‘Cause you called me out.” Alix reminded him as Max tucked his bike chain inside his bag and started backing it out of the rack. “You’ve got two hours until your date, that’s plenty of time to swing through the park for a deo of my awesomeness.”

“You do realize I need to actually go get the flowers, and still shower and get to her house, right?” Kim said, perturbed. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you need to condition your hair tonight?” Alix cooed at him, grin widening when Max snickered.

“You’re not going to get me like that.” Kim said, but his eyes narrowed. “Besides, I know what brand of conditioner _you_ use.”

“And my hair is silky soft, too. Want to pet me?” Alix batted her eyelashes at him and tilted her head in his direction.

Kim snorted and reached out, rapping his knuckles against her helmet. “Guess you need a better one.”

“That wasn’t my hair.” Alix frowned. “Do you need glasses?”

“Hair is pink, helmet is pink…” Kim shrugged. “What’s in it for me with the demo, anyway?”

“Hmm.” Alix considered, finger tapping her chin as her gaze slid towards Max, who was watching their banter with his normal air of amusement. “Max is judge. Three tricks. Win or lose, I'll pick up your posies.”

“And the winner gets...?” Kim prompted.

Alix’s brows furrowed. “I...dunno. If I win you wear makeup?”

“Oh _hell no_ woman.” Kim snorted.

“Oh, come on!” Alix grinned. “We could get Adrien and Juleka to do it! Remember how pretty Nino looked?”

Kim opened his mouth to snarl at her, then paused. Nino _had_ looked good, and Juleka was good with cosmetics, and Adrien was such a little cinnamon role he probably wouldn’t accept bribes to make Kim look like a clown. 

Then he saw Max smirk, and abruptly derailed that train of thought.

“No.” He said firmly.

“Okay, I don’t know.” Alix shrugged. “How about something later? A favor owed, and Max gets veto on anything outrageous.”

Kim considered. Giving Max veto power was the clincher - they could always count on him to moderate things between them. “Okay.” He agreed reluctantly. “But only three tricks. Ten minutes, tops.”

“Deal.” Alix stuck out her hand, and they shook.

“Heard and witnessed.” Max intoned, swinging his leg over the seat. “Now can we get going? I’m supposed to make dinner tonight.”

The three of them made their way to the nearby skate park in relative silence, Alix and Kim happy to let Max ramble about the statistics of his group winning the next dungeon in six tries or less and the associated loot with the new content due to be released soon.

“I’m telling you, Kim, if you can bring your rogue up to sixty before next month, there’s some sweet stuff being let out!” He was saying as they swung into the entrance a few minutes later.

“I dunno, man.” Kim replied. “ My rogue isn’t much higher than my shaman. I really prefer paladin.”

“Smash buttons get cookie?” Alix quipped. “Start swinging and hope you hit something?”

“Whatever.” Kim shrugged. “You know who you call when you need a tank.”

“Max?” Alix blinked at him innocently.

“Oi!” Kim gaped. “I’ll have you know that my tanking is way better than his alt's!”

Alix sniggered. “Wow, somebody is defensive.” 

“Little jerk.” Kim scowled. “If you’re going to make fun of me, I’m going first.”

Still laughing, Alix gestured him towards the bowl with a sweeping bow.

“That’s right.” Kim sneered as he kicked in. “Bow to your betters.”

Not waiting for her response, Kim dropped into the bowl, pumping a few times to build up enough speed so he could bring the board up vertically as he went up the side. Keeping his balance right was hard, but he was happy that he had enough speed to get decently over the edge of the bowl to show off that his board was actually the full 90 degrees before he landed the deck of the board on the edge of the bowl. Shifting his weight, he “walked” the board along the lip for a few feet before pausing, board still balanced like a see-saw over the rim of the bowl. 

Shooting his friends a mocking salute, he stomped hard on the back of the board, snapping it up and kicking it around so that he fell into the bowl backwards. Pumping a few more times to build his speed, Kim cleared the lips next to Alix and Max, snapping his board up and flipping Alix a smirk.

“Not bad.” Alix said neutrally.

“Not bad?” Kim’s eyebrow cocked up.

Alix smirked. “I’m not the judge.”

“Strong start.” Max said. “Good job hitting the full ninety, and you were balanced well. A small hiccup as you kicked it around - you weren’t totally straight as you fell in, but overall a strong showing. Eight out of ten.”

Kim’s lips pursed, but Alix was already dropping into the bowl with a short bark of laughter trailing behind her. Kim watched as she pumped, going back and forth a few times to build speed before she hit the right side ledge. She did the vert, same as him, but instead of balancing, she reached back and grabbed the board behind herself showing off her flexibility as her back and hips arched, and settling her hand behind her head to pose before she hit the lip again and came back.

“Not bad.” Kim mocked.

“Please.” Alix replied. “The air on that was impressive.”

“Indeed it was.” Max said. “But you had to do three laps to get it - you should only have needed two and a half. Still, perfect vert, and it was good air. High enough to hold a pose, and you got the board up high, too. I’m gonna award a nine there.”

“Nyah.” Alix pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out.

Kim rolled his eyes. “You can be such a kid.”

Dropping in, Kim did a few laps, pumping hard to get the momentum he needed to pull off what he had in mind. He managed to shave off half a lap, but then had to hop the board to get it up high enough, which he knew was going to cost him. Still, he was able to pull the board vertical, _and_ kickflip it before he hit the concrete again.

“Still an eight, man.” Max shook his head. “Your technique is good, but that was pretty basic.”

Kim scowled, _then_ scowled harder when Alix managed to up his 360 by a half rotation and bring it to 540.

“Still wobbly.” Max mused. “Eight.”

“Suck that!” Kim crowed. “Bigger isn’t always better!”

“Is that what you tell your girlfriends, too?” Alix teased.

Max blinked, then cringed.

Kim started to bristle, genuinely offended, but then stopped, realized that’s exactly what the diminutive girl was going for - if he was mad, it was more likely he’d screw up. Instead he forced the irritation back and smirked at her instead.

“Okay, for one, why are you checking out my junk?” He asked. “I didn’t even know you were into that...I thought you were more of a carpet kind of girl.”

Alix’s eye’s narrowed. Her mouth opened, but Kim cut her off.

“And two, you’re one to talk - do you even have tits? Cuz I kind of think you’re still stuffing your training bra there, Kubdel.” Not giving her a chance to respond, he dropped in.

“Don’t look at me - you started it.” He heard Max tell her as he sped off.

Righteous indignation gave him more energy, and he got more than enough air for his trick, managing a fucking _jesus flip_ , which Max gave him a solid ten for. 

“And now rain?” Alix grumbled, staring up at the still sunny sky. “What in the actual hell?”

“Yeah, right?” Kim held out his hand and watched droplets splatter into his palm. 

“It’s called a sun shower.” Max said, eyeballing his backpack - which had his tablet and laptop in it - nervously. “Not common, but not a completely unknown weather phenomenon where the wind pushes droplets ahead of the clouds and-”

“We know what it is dude.” Alix grinned at him. “It’s just weird.”

“And we’re wasting time - I still have to get ready to go.” Kim frowned at his phone. “Last trick, Alix - make it happen.” 

Unfortunately, the rain had already started making things slick. It wasn’t a particularly busy park, but when the rain started, inexperienced skaters usually cleared out. And while Alix wasn’t inexperienced, residual wax from other skaters and the natural oils in the concrete made it hard for anyone. So while Alix did manage her 180 spin with a judo kick, her board hit the ground and slid out from under her, dumping her off of it as it skittered away.

Kim and Max jogged down into the bowl as Alix pulled herself up. Kim grabbed her board - nothing looked damaged - as Max knelt down by Alix who was sitting on the ground frowning.

“Are you alright?” He was asking.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Nothing hurt but my ass and my pride.” Alix sighed, scuffing her toes irritably as she regained her feet and accepted her board back from Kim. “Guess I’d better go fetch some daisies.”

“You don’t have to.” Kim offered. “The rain kind of messed it up.”

“Maybe, but I still lost the bed.” Alix shrugged. “And I don’t renege on my bets. Which shop did you order from?”

Kim told her and she nodded - it was fairly close to his house, anyway, so it wouldn’t be that hard. “Alright, I’ll head there and drop them off at your place. Forty minutes?” She asked, slipping her helmet off and fluffing her hair briefly. Between the sweat and the rain, it was sticking the the back of her neck uncomfortably.

“Yeah - don’t crush them, okay?” Kim frowned. “I don’t want you sabotaging my chances of getting to third base.”

“Good grief.” Alix rolled her eyes. “I’ll be careful with your ‘please touch my penis’ bouquet.”

“I’m glad you understand these things.” Kim said solemnly, lips twitching in amusement.

“You two are so crude.” Max grumbled, shoving his glasses up on his nose as he swung his backpack over his shoulder. “I need to go get dinner started. Kim, have a good date. Alix, homework tomorrow at two. Don’t forget.”

“You’re awesome Max. I’ll see you then!” Alix grinned, waving over her shoulder as she took off.

Kim had to book it home - he was officially running behind now, and hoped Ambre would forgive him - but was happy when his doorbell rang a full ten minutes earlier than he’d anticipated.

Zipping up his pants, Kim headed to the door barefoot.

“Dude, where’s your clothes?” Alix’s head tilted to the side. 

“What?” Kim glanced down. “Shirt’s a button-down, so I was putting it on last.”

“Don’t forget to button your jeans.” Alix said dryly. “And wear shoes.”

“Whatever.” Kim fumbled with the top button of his nice jeans. “I could have just come to the door in my underwear. Where’s the flowers, midget?”

Alix shrugged and held out the mixed bouquet. “Here’s your ‘please do me’ daisies. Uncrushed, as promised.”

“Good girl.” Kim patted her on the head. “And I’m not looking to get laid - well, I mean I am, eventually, but I’d be kind of shocked if she said okay anytime this week...month...whatever.”

“I swear boys only think with their dicks.” Alix grumbled. “Does this girl even have a personality?”

“Yeah.” Kim leered and made cupping gestures around his chest. “She has a great personality.”

Alix shot him a look.

“She’s into anime, pop music, and chemistry. Wants to be a teacher, has an older brother and two younger sisters.” Kim said. “Happy?”

“At least you didn’t spend the whole time mentally undressing her.” Alix sighed. “You’re moving up on the evolutionary chain, Lê Chiến, good job.”

“I can pay attention to things.” Kim said. “Like the time. I have ten minutes until I need to leave.”

“Yeah okay...no, wait.” Alix started to turn, then paused and sighed. Kim raised an eyebrow a her. “I was out of line with the dick joke back at the park. I’m sorry.”

Kim raised an eyebrow curiously. “Well, yeah, especially considering you’ve never even seen my dick.”

“Ugh.” Alix slapped a palm over her face. “Dammit, Max.” She grumbled. “Kim, can’t you just say ‘forgiven’ like a normal person?”

“I could, but that would be so boring.” Kim replied, grinning wolfishly. “But, um, yeah...sorry about the training bra comment.”

“They are pretty small.” Alix shrugged. “No big.”

“Yeah, but tit was rude to say so.” Kim said, smirking when Alix narrowed her eyes.

“Did you just-?” She asked him.

“Did I just what?” Kim grinned.

“You did.” She glared. “You apologized _and_ made a pun in the same sentence. How does that even work? Can you really make an _apology joke?_ Does that even _count?_ ”

“I’m Lê Chiến Kim. I do what I want.” Kim buffed his fingers on his chest as Alix groaned. “Hey, wait.”

“You’re going to be late at this rate.” Alix pointed out as she turned back around.

Kim pulled a daisy out of the bouquet and stuck it in one to the vent holes of Alix’s helmet.

“The hell?” She asked, eyebrow raised questioningly as she pointed to it. “Did you just give me a flower from your date’s bouquet?”

“She’ll never know. Thanks for picking it up.” Kim said.

“Man, give a guy his third base ticket and I don’t even merit a rose? What’s up with that?” Alix teased.

“Um, little girl, please: the roses are what is going to _get_ me to that base.” Kim replied. “If you want one of those, I’m going to at _least_ need a kiss or something.”

“Or something.” Alix smirked.

“Yeah, _or something._ ” Kim shot back. “Besides - the daisy looks better in your hair. Now scram, so I can finish getting dressed.”

“Later. Have fun.” Alix replied, tossing a wave over her shoulder as she skated off down the sidewalk.

Laughing, Kim turned and headed back in. 

He never saw Alix stop down the road, safely away from his gaze, and pull the flower out of her helmet. And because he didn’t see that, he never knew that she looked at it and smiled before tucking it back in and continuing on her way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, fluffy Alix/Kim is so hard to write...all they want to do is show their love by arguing and beating the hell out of each other, lol. And Max, he's definitely their friend - I mean, the play MMOs for him.
> 
> Sorry this didn't get up yesterday: first day of school was a half day, so I ran errands and than spent the day with my kids.
> 
> Also, I know diddly about skateboarding, so if there's something wrong with it, let me know. Offer corrections?


	19. The contract

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 17 Prompt: AU
> 
> Childhood Friends AU! Part 1 of 2
> 
> ~~I found this picture on Pinterest, but have never been able to locate the source. If anybody can point me to the artist so I could credit their talent, I would greatly appreciate it.~~
> 
> YOU ARE ALL AMAZING! The artist is ceejles and the original image is located here: http://ceejles.tumblr.com/post/159701069918/ceejles-an-au-where-adrien-was-shorter-than-his

 

(9 years old) 

“I’m going to marry you.” Marinette turned, eying her best friend speculatively.

“You are?”

“Yep.” Adrien nodded. “Better start designing your dress.” 

Marinette couldn’t resist. She did her very best imitation of Ariel’s expression when she was staring at the statue of Prince Eric.

“Yeah...” She sighed. “Nathaniel will make such a handsome groom…”

_“What?”_ Adrien gawked at her. “No! You’re going to marry _me_. Didn’t I just say that? Do you need your ears cleaned?”

“Why would I marry _you_ , pipsqueak?” Marinette grinned, stepping closer to him to helpfully illustrate the differences in their respective heights. Indeed, Adrien had to tilt his head up to meet her eyes, and Marinette smirked triumphantly. “I don’t want to be taller than my husband.”

“So _Nathaniel_ is your answer?” Adrien scowled.

“He’s taller than me.” Marinette reminded him. “He’s my friend, and his hair is _so pretty_. Our kids will be _adorable_.”

“You love _me_.” Adrien pointed out. “ _I’m_ your friend. _My_ hair is pretty. And we already _have_ a kid.”

“A baby doll named Poopy Head does _not_ count.” Marinette rebutted. “Besides, _Nathaniel_ doesn’t think I have cooties.”

__

__

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Adrien grumbled, scratching at the bright blue band-aid on his cheek.

“You made your dad give you a cootie shot every week for, like, a year.” Marinette’s eyes narrowed. “And I bet Nathaniel doesn’t think kissing is gross.”

“Kissing isn’t... _gross._ ” Adrien said, but his nose wrinkled.

“Liar.” Marinette sang.

“You still love me.” Adrien’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re my best friend.” Marinette replied, smiling patronizingly at him over her shoulder. “Of course I love you...pipsqueak. But I’m not going to marry you if you’re shorter than me.”

“So if I grow taller than you, like _this_ -” He held his hand above her head to illustrate, “-you’ll marry me, right?”

“How about we’ll see if that time ever comes. _Shortie._ After all, right now you’re so small, I can barely see you.” Adrien scowled, and Marinette smirked, certain in her victory.

“Do you mean it?” Adrien demanded.

“Do I mean it?” Marinette’s brow furrowed.

“If I get taller than you, you’ll marry me.” Adrien replied. “Do you mean it?”

Marinette chewed her lips. “I don’t _just_ want you to be taller than me. There’s gotta be other things, too.”

“Like what?” Adrien’s head cocked to the side curiously.

“Well, you have to be...in the same school year as me.” Marinette said. “I’m not going to marry somebody whose younger than me, either.”

“I gotta write this down.” Adrien muttered to himself, walking off. Curiously, Marinette followed him and watched as he found a notebook and his favorite green marker.

“Why marker?” She asked.

“Pencil can be erased, and crayons are for kids - this is a grown up thing, so we need grown up stuff.” He said confidently. “So, how much taller than you do I need to be?”

“Umm…” Marinette shrugged and waved her hand above her head. “About this much.”

“I don’t know how to write ‘about this much.’” Adrien replied. “It won’t make sense. Let’s go find my dad.”

 

Gabriel was in his office, squinting at the computer screen and muttering.

“Hey dad?”

“...Yes?” Came the distracted response. “How did you get in?”

“Nathalie wasn’t at her desk.” Adrien replied. “How tall is this?”

“Wha-?” Gabriel looked up to see his son waving his hand above Marinette’s head. “About...five feet?”

“No, how much taller is my hand than Marinette?” Adrien clarified.

Gabriel squinted. “Hmm. About...four or five inches?”

“Okay, thanks.”

Back in Adrien’s room, he and Marinette hashed out the details of their contract. It took three tries, because they kept spelling words wrong and had to start over (“We could have just used a _pencil_ , Adrien!”) but eventually they had the completed contract in front of them. There was even a line for them to sign their names, with their names printed neatly underneath.

“So if you sign this and I’m taller than you, you have to marry me.” Adrien regarded Marinette seriously.

“Sure sure.” Marinette replied. “Unless you fall in love with someone else and want to marry them.”

“Like who?” Adrien asked. “Should we have put that on the contract, too?”

“Oh no, I am not writing this whole thing out _again._ ” Marinette snapped. “You promised me we’d play on your wii!”

“This is important!” Adrien insisted. “This is our future! And I changed my mind anyway - you don’t get to marry anyone who isn’t me.” 

“Or you’ll turn it into a paper airplane.” Marinette glared. “And I’ll marry whoever I want.”

“If I have to keep hearing about how pretty Nathaniel’s hair is, I’m going to shave him bald.” Adrien hissed in response.

“You wouldn’t!”

“Try me.” Adrien snapped, though in truth he had no idea how he’d actually accomplish the feat, and really hoped that his friend _didn’t_ try him. “And I won’t turn this into an airplane… I’m going to take it to dad, so he can put it in his filing cabinet.”

Marinette stared. “There is no way he’d do it. Only _important_ things go in filing cabinets.”

Adrien’s eye twitched.

 

Gabriel jumped when his office door slammed open and his son stormed in, an irritated looking Marinette trailing behind him.

“Adrien!” He scolded.

“Sorry, dad.” Adrien paused and flushed. “I need your help.”

“It couldn’t wait?” Gabriel asked, annoyed.

“No." The finality of the word had Gabriel’s eyebrow raising.

“Very well.” He said, “Let me see.” 

Solemnly, Adrien handed him the paper. Gabriel glanced down, and struggled not to burst into laughter. A _marriage contract_ , of all things! Written in green marker, nonetheless.

“This is, _ahem_.” Gabriel, paused, gathered himself, and glanced at his son. “This is...quite serious. Are you sure?”

“I need you to file it.” Adrien replied.

“File it?” Gabriel’s eyebrow climbed towards his hairline.

"I’m pretty sure Adrien will turn it into a paper airplane.” Marinette grinned. “He said you would file it, so he couldn’t.”

...Well, his son _had_ been making a lot of paper airplanes lately.

“I see you haven’t signed it yet.” Gabriel said, focusing on the details so he wouldn’t burst into laughter and completely offend his son.

“We need a witness.” Adrien said with perfect seriousness. “I was going to ask Nathalie, but she isn’t there.”

“Ah, yes, Nathalie had to run some work down to the office.” Gabriel replied. And it was just as well they hadn’t approached her - Nathalie was a good woman, but not well able to handle children. “Well then, if you’re sure...do you need a pencil?”

“I’ve got my marker.” Adrien said, and pulled out his green marker, dutifully signing his name in wobbly cursive.

“Me too.” Marinette’s marker was pink, and her cursive slightly less wobbly. “Now can we go play wii?”

Diligently, Gabriel used a pen to sign on the witness line, and promised his son he would file it for him. With baited breath, he waited until the two were well away from the office before he started laughing. Still laughing, he pulled out his new smartphone, took a picture, and emailed it to his wife, Tom and Sabine. The four of them were having dinner together later - he had a feeling he knew what they would be talking about. If Nathalie was alarmed by his random chuckles the rest of the day, she made no mention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have or have dealt with children, you know the struggle of trying to keep a straight face when they're saying/doing something ridiculous, but they're so serious that you cannot laugh or you will mortally offend them. _The struggle is real._


	20. The Contract pt2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 17: AU
> 
> Childhood Friends AU! 
> 
> The artist of the inspiration picture is ceejles, and you can find them here: http://ceejles.tumblr.com/post/159701069918/ceejles-an-au-where-adrien-was-shorter-than-his

 

 

_(Eight years later)_

_"_ _Adrihoney!"_ Chloe beamed as she bounced up to him, Nathaniel's wrist caught in her grasp as he was dragged along behind her. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks, Chlo." Adrien grinned. "Hey, Nath."

"Happy birthday Adrien." Nathaniel smiled. "Looking forward to the party tonight?"

"Of course!" Adrien laughed. "Who doesn't like cake?"

"Especially a _Dupain-Cheng_ cake, right?" Chloe asked slyly. "Did Mari make it again this year?"

"She said she would." Adrien nodded.

"Did she tell you what it would be?"

"'A surprise.'" Adrien quoted. "Just like every year."

"So what are you doing here?" Chloe asked, glancing around the diner.

"I've got the day off for my birthday." Adrien replied. "Nino is treating me to lunch."

"Ah." Chloe nodded. "I saw him a few minutes ago - Nath and I just finished, actually."

"And we've got to go, or we'll miss the start of the movie." Nathaniel added, glancing at his watch.

"Okay, okay." Chloe sighed, turning a bright smile on Adrien as Nathaniel tugged her towards the door. "We'll see you tonight!"

"Absolutely." Adrien called after her. "I'm looking forward to it."

 _"And I'm looking forward to_ this _even more."_ Adrien thought smugly, spotting Marinette sitting in a booth across from Alya and Nino. Making his way over, he offered everyone a grin.

"Hey birthday boy!" Adrien smiled back at Alya's bright grin as he reached out to return Nino's fist bump. "How's your day going?"

"It's about to get a lot better. Hold this." Adrien couldn't stop the smug smirk that spread across his face as he handed his phone to Nino and looked at a very confused Marinette. "Get up, Mari-berry."

"Wh-what?" Marinette glanced at Alya and Nino, who both shrugged.

"You heard me." Adrien replied. "Stand up. I need to show you something."

"And you can't show me sitting down?" Marinette grumbled, rising and dusting off her dark pink shorts.

"Nope!" Adrien sang, slinging his arm over his best friend's shoulders as she peered up at him in exasperation.

"I'm only humoring you because it's your birthday." She told him. "Are- Are you _filming_ this?" She squeaked, pointing at Nino, who was holding Adrien's phone up towards them.

"Eight years ago," Adrien began, ignoring Marinette's question and turning to Alya and Nino, "Marinette made me a promise. We even signed a _contract_ , and my dad dutifully witnessed and filed it for us."

He slid Marinette a glance out of the corner of his eye, and was gratified to see the flush creeping up her neck. She knew _exactly_ what he was talking about.

"Of which I have a copy." Adrien pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pocket with a flourish, shaking it open and holding it above Marinette's grasping reach.

"We were nine!" Marinette gasped.

"You signed it!" Adrien reminded her smugly.

"I'm going to _kill_ you." Marinette growled.

"Can't." Adrien replied. "It's my birthday, _and_ I've got witnesses."

"I don't know what's going on, but I bet it's going to be good." Nino said to no one in particular. 

"I kind of wish we had popcorn for this show." Alya added.

 _"_ _Traitors!"_ Marinette hissed.

"Dated September twenty-sixth, 2009." Adrien began. "Marinette promised to marry me _if_ I was at least five inches taller than her, the same age as her, and in her school year."

"Seriously?" Alya laughed.

"I was _nine_!" Marinette wailed. "He was _short!_ _And_ he was a year behind me!"

"Um, dude, have you _seen_ his dad?" Nino asked, amused. "You had to know he wasn't going to be short forever."

" _Nine_ , Nino." Marinette gritted out. "I. Was. _Nine."_

"And four inches taller than me." Adrien added helpfully, tossing Nino and Alya the paper.

"Burn it!" Marinette insisted.

"Oh no, girl, this is too cute." Alya crooned, helpfully holding the paper up for Nino to look at too, as well as focus Adrien's phone on it for good measure. "Did you write it in green crayon?"

Marinette buried her face in her hands with a groan.

"I used my favorite marker." Adrien said solemnly, lips twitching.

"This is not legally binding." Marinette complained.

"And yet the terms of the contract have been met." Adrien gloated. "You are five feet, six inches tall. _I_ am-" 

"How do you know that?" Marinette grumbled.

"You bragged last month. Now don't interrupt." Adrien replied. "I am fully _seven inches taller than you_. We are both seventeen as of today, and, my coup de grace, _I_ am already taking University classes...when do you graduate Lycee, again?"

"I'm still older than you."

"Not until next August." Adrien replied. "And I'll still be taller than you, and ahead of you in school."

"I work for your father."

"This contract predates that." Adrien replied. "Plus, who do you think was the one that witnessed the original contract?"

"This is so cute!" Alya squealed.

"How did this even start?" Nino laughed.

"Marinette told me she wouldn't marry me because I was short." Adrien replied. "She threatened to marry _Nathaniel_ instead."

"His hair is still prettier than yours." Marinette hissed.

"Lies!" Adrien laughed. "You love my hair. You love _me_."

"I'm rethinking that." Marinette sniffed, turning away and crossing her arms under her breasts.

"She told me I was so short she could barely see me." Adrien told Alya and Nino seriously.

Adrien stepped up behind Marinette, helpfully holding his hand over her head to illustrate the difference in their height. "Better start designing your wedding dress." He said smugly.

Marinette turned away, one hand rising to cup her chin in an attempt to hide her flaming face. Adrien was having none of it, and leaned over her shoulder to catch her looking at him out of the side of her eyes. Smirking, he leaned down further, lips coming to rest near her ear.

"Do you see me now?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, THANK YOU so much to the people who recognized the artist and pointed me their way! I absolutely believe that people deserve credit for their time and talent, and I'm so glad that I was able to give ceejles the kudos they deserved!
> 
> As a further point of interest, I actually have an entire drabble-style story based off of that one picture that's currently in the works. It may or may not ever make it out: I'm hung up on how to play off Hawkmoth - I don't want him to be Gabriel in that particular fic, but I'm not sure what to _do_.


	21. Secret Sleepover Origins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 18: Gaming
> 
> Group feels! How the Secret Sleepover Society got it's start. (Spoiler: it's all Nino's fault)
> 
> WoW = World of Warcraft  
> PvP = player versus player  
> AFK = away from keyboard  
> AOE = area of effect

“What do you think girls do when they have sleepovers?” Nino wondered aloud.

“Duh.” Kim grunted, mashing buttons on the controller in a (futile) attempt to dominate Max. (Everyone knew that Adrien and Marinette were his only real competition.)

Everyone except Max turned to stare at him.

“What?” He asked, looking up for a few seconds...which was all it took for his character to die a quick and merciful death. “Aw, dammit.”

“My turn.” Nino rolled his eyes. “Nathanael, take that from Max.”

“This is kind of boring guys.” Nathanael took the controller, but didn’t look particularly enthused. “Can’t we play something online? Like, with other people?”

“Like what?” Adrien asked.

“Umm…WoW?” Nath shrugged. “I’m better at that, at least. And we can all go in as a party to play against other guilds.”

Since it was by and large a fact that Adrien and Max were the UMS3 champs, and that got boring, the boys quickly switched gears. Laptops appeared and a guild was created: AKMNN19

“Ack...m...nnn…?” Kim squinted. “Oh, I get it.”

“Riiight…” Nino squinted at Kim consideringly. “Okay, let’s see if there are any other teams available.”

Player versus player teams weren’t too hard to come by, especially on a Saturday night, so in short order, a game of capture the flag was on.

“So, Kim.” Nino said, grunting as he dodged an incoming barrage. “What do you think girls do at sleepovers?”

“Duh.” Kim was running from the graveyard back down to the fight. “Girl things. Haven’t you dweebs ever seen pornos?”

Nino slapped a hand over his face - briefly, because someone was chasing him down, and he needed to run. “I don’t think life is actually like pornos, dude.”

“Seriously.” Adrien muttered, grinning as his opponent faded from the field. “First off, you’d need guys or toys to be there...and I don’t think any of the girls we know do that. Maybe. Do they?”

“You’ve seen porn?” Nino asked incredulously.

“Nino.” Adrien frowned when his previous opponent assassinated him, leaning back and sighing while he waited to respawn. _“Really?”_

“I’m just...you seem too...innocent.” Nino shrugged. “Total sunshine child. A sweet little cinnamon roll.”

“Up until two years ago I was effectively a social shut-in who had to live vicariously through my computer screen.” Adrien said dryly, paraphrasing Nino’s own oft-heard description of his best friend. _“Why in the fresh hell would I not have seen porn?”_

Nath sniggered. 

“Girl on girl.” Kim said. “Sleepovers. _Oh yeah.”_

“I don’t think that’s what they actually do.” Max said. “Statistically, 83% of male suppositions about the female sex are wrong, anyway.”

“We could settle this the easy way.” Nathanael suggested.

“Which is?” Nino asked. “Oh my god, I’m sick of playing this team. _All I do is die.”_

“Ask the girls.” Adrien nodded, seeing where Nath was headed. “I mean, aren’t Alya and Marinette having a sleepover tonight?”

“Yes, I believe I heard them talking about it.” Max said, frowning at the screen. “This team is pretty good. Very challenging. Nino, ask them.”

“Why me?” Nino asked. “This dude keeps sniping me. Adrien, you do it.”

“Yes sir.” Adrien said sweetly. “Would you like me to feed you your pizza too, master?”

“Yeah. After you text Marinette or Alya.” Nino replied.

“I could smash that pizza in his face for you.” Kim offered.

“Nah, it would just stain the carpet.” Adrien set his mouse aside and picked up Nino’s phone.  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Holy crap, this team is lame.” Alix said. “I’ve killed the same dude like ten times.”

“Go easy.” Alya replied. “They might be kids.”

“ _We’re_ kids.” Alix replied.

“ _Young_ kids.” Alya rolled her eyes. “Like, _ten_ or something. Mari, could you grab my phone? It just buzzed.”

“Sure.” Marinette, who was in the graveyard, reached down and picked up Alya’s phone. “Nino asks, ‘Hey Alya, what do girls do at sleepovers?’”

_“Seriously?”_ Juleka asked. “What kind of answer is he expecting?”

“Maybe he thinks we’re painting our nails.” Rose offered.

“Or having pillow fights in our underwear.” Alya chimed in.

“He’s with _Kim.”_ Alix sniggered. “Ten bucks says Kim is telling him we’re having hot girl-on-girl sexy time.”

_“What?”_ Marinette’s face turned scarlet. “But- But they’re at Adrien’s house!”

Did Adrien think she...that _she_ was…? Marinette blushed harder, unable to complete the thought.

Alya suddenly blinked and straightened. “We should totally fuck with their heads.”

“What?” Juleka turned to stare at the other girl incredulously. “How?”

“Girls, go AFK, we’ve got some work to do.”  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

 

_“Oh my god.”_

“What?” Nino craned his neck to see what Nathanael was looking at. His eyes widened dramatically as his jaw went slack. _“Oh my god!”_

“What?” Adrien looked up from his pizza slice with a frown.

“Adrien - throw this up on your monitor, quick!” Nino shoved the phone into his hands.

“What? Why? I was finally winning!” Adrien protested, then glanced down at the small screen. His eyebrows rose. “Okay.”

“What? No.” Max said from the other side of the coffee table. “The battleground isn’t over yet! You can look at whatever Alya sent you _later_.”

“No, you want to see this.” Nino said.

“Think of our teammates!” Max protested. “It’s rude to just _leave_ mid-battle.”

“It’s not rated.” Adrien was already at his desk and fiddling with settings. “Just step away from the keyboard. Trust me, they would do the same to us.”

“This had better be good.” Max grumbled.

It took a bit of finagling, but Adrien was able to get the video - and the still-arriving pictures - onto his monitor. 

“I knew it!” Kim crowed. “Girl sleepovers are the - _is that Alix?”_

A full-fledged pillow fight raged through Marinette’s bedroom. And Alix was right in the middle of it wearing a sports bra and pajama pants, giggling and ducking as feathers flew.

“Alix did say she was invited.” Max muttered, shoving his glasses further up his nose.

“But why is she there?” Kim sounded confused. “And wearing...that?”

“Because she’s a girl? And it’s a sleepover with other girls?” Nino shrugged. Alya was wearing some kind of satiny teal bra and loose pink shorts. Her glasses were removed (probably for safety) as she ducked Rose’s pillow. 

“But...Alix.” Kim gestured vaguely at the screen. “She’s not a _girl_ girl. She’s more like...a guy girl.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken.” Nathanael muttered, his face nearly indistinguishable from his hair. 

“This is amazing.” Nino whispered.

Adrien looked at the assembled group of guys: jeans and tee-shirts. Laptops were scattered around his room along with pizza boxes and cans of soda. “Suddenly I feel like our get-together is inadequate.”

“We’re definitely in the wrong place.” Nathanael nodded. “Like, we should be _there_.”

Max leaned down, pulling up the next clip.

Alya giggling as she squirted whipped cream into Marinette’s mouth. Juleka feeding Rose a cherry: Rose had the audacity to _wink_ at the screen as she curled her tongue around it before she pulled it into her mouth. Alix feeding Juleka a spoonful of chocolate ice cream...except she was laughing so hard she missed and smeared some across her cheek.

“She _licked it off.”_ Nino whimpered.

“Why is Alix even _there?”_ Kim looked uncomfortable. “She’s not a girl. She doesn’t do...girl things.”

“You and I are watching the same video.” Max said. “So we can assume she does. Or did.” Clearing his throat, he started pulling up pictures of the girls painting fingernails, doing hair, and snuggling. 

The boys went through them in stunned silence until they came to the end of the reel.

“Ah, any more?” Adrien asked hesitantly.

“No.” Nathanael shook his head as he glanced at Nino’s phone.

There was an uncomfortable silence until Nino started laughing. Everyone turned to look at him, but he just kept going. Eventually he just turned and walked away, plopping down onto Adrien's couch and taking off his glasses so he could wipe his eyes.

“What’s so funny?” Adrien was smiling despite himself.

“Those- Oh my god, _those girls!_ ” Nino giggled helplessly, and waved his hands. “Ten euros says Alya was behind all that.”

“What do you mean?” Max asked.

_“That-”_ Nino pointed at Adrien’s monitor (now back to its regular background) “is exactly the kind of thing she would orchestrate. To teach us a lesson, or something, or just mess with us.”

“I don’t think Marinette would go along with that.” Adrien frowned.

“Yeah, if you think that, you don’t know Mari very well.” Nino sniggered. “It might take some convincing, but trust me - Alya knows every button to push to get Marinette to do what she wants.”

“But...Alix…” Kim’s face was twisted into an expression of confusion. 

Nino rolled his eyes - if Kim hadn’t figured out that Alix was a girl after that, it would take nothing less than their diminutive pink-haired friend streaking by him to get him to understand. And there was no way Nino was getting near that.

“Back to the game?” Nino asked, pulling his laptop back towards him. “I think that other team is back… What were they called?”

“Power Word Awesome.” Max provided, sitting down at the coffee table.

“Can we just sneak over to Marinette’s house instead?” Adrien asked abstractly, sitting down and picking his own laptop back up. “I mean, it’s only a few blocks away.”

“We should.” Nino muttered. “Teach those doofuses to mess with us - they’re probably still laughing at us.”

“Let’s do it.”

The group blinked and turned to Kim, who was standing with his hands on his hips. 

“I was mostly joking, you know that, right?” Adrien asked, looking to Nino for backup.

He was looking in the wrong place.

“We totally should.” Nino pursed his lips consideringly. “I mean...they had ice cream.”

“Ice cream?” Adrien blinked. “They were having pillow fights in their underwear and squirting whipped cream in each other’s mouths...who noticed the _ice cream?_ Besides you, obviously.”

“Well, yeah.” Nino gestured vaguely. “Obviously, this isn’t a dirty porn - if we show up, they’re not going to welcome us with steamy girl-on-girl action. Or us-on-them action. But _I’m telling you_ \- they were making fun of us, so I bet it would really freak them out if we showed up at Marinette’s house. So we should totally go over and make a big deal about how we saw that they had _ice cream,_ so we came to make hot fudge sundaes or whatever. Mess with _their_ heads.”

“That...doesn’t sound like a terrible idea.” Nathanael mused. “And it’s only ten o’clock. It’s not even that late.”

“You too?” Adrien frowned.

“Will anyone notice that we’re gone?” Max asked.

“Well...no, probably not.” Adrien said slowly, lips pursing in consideration. “Gorilla is here, but I’m nearly eighteen - he doesn’t care what I do as long as I don’t get him in trouble with my dad. Nathalie left back before you guys arrived, and Father is out of town this week. I can just disable the security system and leave. Nobody even checks surveillance cameras unless there’s an incident.”

“Alright then,” Kim nodded. “Let’s go get some ice cream.”

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Mari, my phone is going off again.” Alya muttered as she squinted at her laptop screen. They’d switched from live play to questing, and the mobs in this area were annoyingly easy to trigger.

“I’m not your slave.” Marinette’s mouse was clicking furiously as she used her AOE attack to wear down one of the mobs they were wading through

Rose, who had been scrolling through her phone, reached over and picked up Alya’s.

“Um...guys?” She squeaked. “Nino says to open the door.”

“Nino says to do _what?_ ” Alya’s head whipped around to stare at the blonde girl incredulously. 

“O- Open the door.” Rose squeaked. 

Marinette’s jaw dropped. Alix started laughing.

“Are you _kidding me?”_ Juleka asked.

 

“Hey Ladies,” Nino grinned at them a few minutes later. “Can we get some ice cream?”

“Is that a euphemism or something?” Alya asked suspiciously, hands on her hips as she glared at the group.

“No, why?” Nino asked innocently. “Seriously - do you have any ice cream left?”

Fifteen minutes later saw the ten of them clustered around Marinette’s living room with a second round of sundaes.

“So,” Nino asked, licking his spoon before pointing it at Alya, “what was up with those pictures, anyway?”

“What do you mean?” Alya asked innocently.

“Don’t play coy with me, young lady.” Nino wagged his spoon at her. “You know exactly what I mean.”

“Yeah, were you guys actually having pillow fights and stuff?” Adrien asked, looking at the assorted girls.

Juleka snorted. “Right... _no.”_

Nathanael smiled, head ducking as he spooned another bite of fudge. “It was a good trick.”

“Yeah - what the hell were you actually doing, anyway?” Kim demanded.

“Well, we really did paint nails and stuff.” Rose said, lifting a hand to show off her sparkly pink nails. “But other than that we were on the computers, really.”

“You were on your laptops?” Max frowned.

“Yeah, why?” Alya asked. 

“I guess that just seems….kind of boring.” Nino shrugged. “Like, that’s the same thing we were doing.”

“We were doing it...in our pajamas?” Marinette offered with a shrug.

“Sorry guys, I guess this just wasn’t as sexy as you thought it would be.” Alix snickered unrepentantly.

“Yeah, what was up with _that?”_ Kim frowned at her. “Why the hell are you here, anyway? You’re not a girly girl!”

“Um, game night?” Alix pulled a face at her friend. “I was leveling my rogue for a while, but then Juleka wanted to do some PvP and so I switched to my alternate so-”

“PvP? Player versus player?” Max asked. “What game were you...were you playing WoW, too?”

“Um, yeah?” Alix shrugged.

“You all-” Max gestured at the assorted girls, “were all playing the same game?”

“Is that really surprising?” Marinette asked curiously.

“A little.” Max admitted. “I didn’t know you played.”

“Yeah, well, we took a break to take those videos and whatnot.” Alya said. 

“And it was awesome.” Nino grinned and winked at his girlfriend.

“You are welcome.” Alya grinned back, shooting him the double gun fingers playfully.

“Wait...whose computer is this?” Nathanael asked, picking up a laptop and staring at the screen. 

“Mine?” Marinette raised her hand, looking bemused. 

“Your guild is _Power Word Awesome?”_ Nathanael turned to face her directly. It was such an unusual move for the normally shy and soft-spoken boy that Marinette faltered.

“Uh- Um, yes?” 

“Are you fucking _kidding_ me?” Kim burst out. “We’d been playing you assholes half the night!”

“Wait- _what?”_ Adrien bent over to examine a second laptop. “Holy cats!”

“I should have known.” Max muttered.

“Wait...what was your guild name?” Alya asked, looking around in confusion.

“Oh, well, we just made our guild tonight...” Max said, shifting a little uncomfortably. “Just the first letter of our names, then the number nineteen.”

Silence. The girls all looked at each other. Finally, Alix snorted. That seemed to break the dam, and soon all five girls were stifling laughter behind fists in an attempt to not wake Marinette’s parents.

“We thought we were playing kids!” Juleka hooted. 

“You were all pretty awful.” Rose added.

“I totally expected better from you, Max.” Alix scolded.

“It was a new alt.” Max grumbled. “Give me a bit.”

“Yeah, you need to work on that.” Alix taunted. “Too bad you don’t have your laptop, I could show you a few things.”

“We could go get them.” Adrien suggested, then rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as everyone turned to look at him. “I mean, we were already playing each other, so we could just keep doing that. You guys - sorry, girls - could even come back to my place, if you wanted. Not like anybody would care.”

The girls exchanged looks, and Marinette pursed her lips thoughtfully. “That...sounds nice, but I don’t want to wake my parents, and they would be concerned to wake up and find us all missing. _However,_ if you guys wanted to relocate here, that wouldn’t be a problem. I don’t know if we have enough pillows for everyone, however.”

“Your parents won’t be upset if they find us all here?” Max asked, gesturing around.

“Not overly.” Marinette shrugged. “They’re pretty cool. And, I mean, it’s pretty obvious nothing insane happened.”

“Well,” Nino said, “I guess we just have to figure out who the go-fers are.”

Five hours later Tom emerged from his bedroom, yawning. Stopping, he blinked, squinted, then rubbed his eyes. Pursing his lips when the scene didn’t change, he sought out his daughter.

“Hey, Mon. D.” Nino waved from his upside down position on the couch.

“Nino.” Tom nodded. “Have you seen Marinette?”

“Umm...yeah. She’s over there.” Nino’s glasses were slipping up his forehead as he pointed off at a pile of blankets in a corner. Eyebrow raised, Tom wandered over. Judging by the random bits of limbs and hair he was seeing, it wasn’t the pile of blankets he’d previously assumed. Peeling back the blanket, he couldn’t help but grin.

Marinette was still in the red tank top and black shorts she’d been wearing last night. She, Adrien and Alya were all squashed on top of the stuffed cat that was usually on her bed, and even if the pillow was a larger one, it hadn’t been meant for three teenagers to all use it at once. The resulting tangle of snuggling was kind of cute.

“Don’t worry, we got pictures.” Alix offered. She was bent over a laptop screen, furiously pounding keys and muttering into a headset. Next to her, Kim was cursing softly.

Tom glanced around. Max was sitting at the coffee table, head down next to his keyboard and snoring, and Tom winced at the uncomfortable position. Nathanael was sitting on the sofa, head tipped back, thighs pillowing Juleka’s head. Rose lay on the ground next to them with a throw blanket and another pillow.

“What happened here, anyway?” Tom asked as Sabine wandered in, stopping to stare at the scene. Laptops were scattered around the room, some open, some closed and powered down. There were _ten_ kids where he’d left five girls, and a mess of convenience store snacks and energy drinks was piled in the kitchen and on the end tables.

“Morning Mme. C!” Nino waved cheerfully, and Kim and Alix echoed him. “Don’t worry, we’re going to clear out soon.”

“You are?” Sabine raised her eyebrow skeptically, and Nino shrugged, which looked downright strange in his upside down position. “What time did everyone fall asleep?”

“I’m...not really sure.” Nino admitted. “I think Mari and Alya crashed around two, Adrien was down not long before that, but I’m not sure about the rest. Max was awake ten minutes ago, I swear.”

“And how did you all arrive here?” Tom repeated his earlier question, studying the way Nino flushed under his gaze.

“Well...umm…” Nino fumbled as Tom’s eyebrow crept upwards, mustache twitching in an effort to conceal his amusement.

“I can’t tell you.” Nino said finally. “It was a secret sleepover.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, this story is based off of World of Warcraft - it's the game I have the most experience with, having listened to my husband play it since 2005, and playing for about a year myself before children basically consumed my soul and all of my free time. So if you have experience with modern WoW, you might notice some discrepancies, but please ignore them in favor of me pulling the Artistic License card to make it fit my needs. Also, Power Word Awesome is a real guild, though it's currently inactive.


	22. Busted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya knows all ya secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 19: Best Friends  
> Prompt 20: Caught

_“That Tomcat?”_ Marinette squawked. “Are you _kidding_ me?”

Adrien and Nino didn’t even realize that they’d sat down near Marinette and Alya until they heard Marinette’s screech. Adrien choked on his sandwich, and Nino’s drink sloshed down his front as he started. 

They looked at each other, startled, before glancing around for the source of the noise, but neither girl was in sight.

“I know, right?” Alya giggled. “I was surprised when somebody suggested it, but I listened to the song and I think it really fits!”

The voices, Adrien realized, were coming from the other side of the tree he and Nino were sitting against. Adrien started to turn and say hello to the two girls, but Marinette’s next words stopped him.

“There is no _way_ Chat Noir’s theme song is Black Velvet.” Marinette snapped.

Oh. Well now. If they were talking about _him_ … Adrien settled back against the tree to listen. Nino glanced at him, but kept otherwise quiet.

“You don’t think so? I mean...” Alya sounded dubious, then cleared her throat. “Black velvet and that little boy smile, Black velvet and that slow southern style… A new religion that’ll bring her to your knees.. Black velvet, if you please~”

Her voice was a surprisingly low, smoky timbre. Next to him, Nino’s eyebrow quirked upwards speculatively. Adrien concentrated on his sandwich, and on fighting the heat trying to rise in his cheeks.

“I mean, the _whole song_ sounds sexy.” Alya continued, oblivious to her audience. “Like, _whoa_.”

Marinette giggled. “Wow, Alya, I didn’t know you were such a fan!” She teased. “Need a drink? You look _thirsty_.”

“Mmm. Drink _him_ up.” Alya purred, and Adrien couldn’t fight the blush any longer. “But seriously, what do you think his theme song would be then?”

“Well…” Marinette drawled. “I haven’t exactly been up on your _polls_ , but I think… Mambo number five.”

“Who the what now?” Alya asked, and mentally Adrien echoed the sentiment. Nino attempted to smother a snorting laugh - clearly, _he_ was in on the joke.

“It’s American, like _your_ song.” Marinette clarified. “It’s basically a song about a guy who’s a professional flirt.”

“Seriously?” Alya sounded amused.

“Yeah, yeah...let me see if I can find it.” A minute of silence that must indicate Marinette looking on the internet, before a pleased sounding noise and an upbeat jazz tune started up.

“...I must stay deep ‘cuz talk is cheap,” Marinette sang. “I like Angela, Pamela, Sandra and Rita, and as I continue you know they’re getting sweeter. So what can I do? I really beg you my Lord, to me flirting is just like a sport. Anything’s fly, it’s all good-”

Adrien’s mouth fell open as Marinette continued singing about his guy and all the ladies he liked. _Is that really what she thinks of me?_

Next to him, Nino had shoved his knuckles into his mouth and was wheezing with laughter. Adrien shot him a betrayed look.

“No way!” Alya sounded torn between laughter and scandalized. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.” Marinette replied. “The boy is a total flirt!”

“How do you figure?”

 _Yeah Marinette,_ Adrien thought crossly, _how do you figure?_

“Well…” Marinette seemed to be gathering her thoughts. “Exhibit A: Ladybug. He’s constantly showering her in over-the-top compliments and declaring his love for her.”

“Ladynoir.” Alya replied. “I ship it.”

“You and half the internet.” Marinette shot back. “And, yeah, he’s at his worst around her, but he also flirts with female akuma victims - sometimes while they’re still akumatized. That’s my Exhibit B, by the way.”

“Distracting them for Ladybug.” Alya pointed out. Adrien considered sending the girl flowers.

“He’s also mildly flirtatious with them afterwards too.” Marinette replied. “Remember the whole Evillustrator thing?”

“Girl, do I.” Alya replied, but the sound was muffled, so Adrien assumed she’d taken a bite of her lunch.

“Anyway, he was a total flirt with me too.” Marinette replied. “He actually flexed his muscles at me.”

“Seriously?” Alya giggled. 

Nino looked like he was going to asphyxiate trying to hold back his laughter. Scowling, Adrien reached out and punched him in the arm. 

“Seriously.” Adrien could practically hear Marinette roll her eyes.

“Did you call him out?” Alya sounded curious.

“Ah…” Marinette paused, and Alya started chuckling.

“He just… he looked like he was having so much fun.” Marinette sounded sheepish. “I mean, I still made a few faces at him behind his back, but he really looked like he _loved_ it when I fangirled it up. So…”

“So you flirted back!” Alya squealed. “Oh my _God_ , girl! You totally flirted with Chat Noir!”

“Just a little.” Marinette muttered. “It was pretty cute. Plus, he was there to protect me and everything, and he really did a good job. Anyway, Exhibit C, _thank you very much.”_

“And you’re still going to assign him Mambo number five?” Alya teased. “I mean, that was _once.”_

Marinette mumbled something Adrien couldn’t catch. 

“What?” Alya asked, apparently also unable to hear it. “You’re gonna have to speak up. Chat Noir what now?”

“Ah…” Marinette paused, and Nino, forgetting his laughter, cocked his head in confusion. 

“Okay.” Marinette said resolutely. “If I tell you something, I need you to swear that it will never become public.”

Silence.

“I mean it, Alya, just between us.” Marinette scolded. “Don’t give me that look.”

“Oh, I swear.” Alya replied evenly. “I’m just wondering what _you_ have to say about _Chat Noir_ that I need to swear silence to. Do you two have a thing or something?”

“O-oh! No!” Marinette squeaked. “Nothing like that!”

“But there is something.” Alya pressed.

Next to him, Nino’s head turned slowly in Adrien’s direction, eyebrows climbing up under the bill of his baseball cap. Adrien took a big bite of his sandwich and scowled at his former best friend.

“No, really.” Marinette replied. “It’s just...I see him on patrol sometimes. Balcony, you know?”

 _“And?”_ Alya asked incredulously. “Are you saying he _visits_ you?”

“Not...exactly.” Marinette mumbled. “I think I just have a conveniently shaped roof, you know?”

 _“The hell?”_ Alya asked incredulously. “A _conveniently shaped roof?”_

“No, really!” Marinette defended. “The front is higher than the back, so he can stop there and not have every random passerby staring at him.”

“Hmm.” Alya seemed to be mulling that one over. “Okay, I’ll buy that. But what does it have to do with you?”

“Well, I’m outside sometimes.” Marinette replied. “Gardening, reading, drawing…”

“Are you waiting out there for him?” Alya asked.

“Noo…”

Adrien blinked. Nino blinked. Behind the tree, Alya probably blinked, too. Because that was an absolutely _pathetic_ sounding denial.

“You _are_.” Alya breathed. “Oh my God, do you _like him?”_

“No!” Marinette said vehemently. “No! It’s just...I mean…”

“Oh no girl,” Alya said flatly. “Don’t even try to get out of this. You’re going to spill your guts.” 

“Well-”

“Yes?”

“It’s just-”

“Just _what?”_

 _“Jeez_ Alya!” Marinette snapped. “If somebody is going to drop sixty-eight kilos of fan service on my balcony, I am _damn well_ going to offer the boy a cookie!”

Alya hooted with laughter. It was good, actually, that she was so loud, because Nino had shoved his hat into his mouth and was pounding a fist on the ground. He was laughing so hard he was _crying_. Adrien wondered if his skin would fry straight off of his face. 

“A cookie?!” Alya asked between guffaws. “Is _that_ what they’re calling it these days?”

“Alya.” Marinette sounded scandalized. “Get your mind out of the gutter!”

“Nope!” Alya chirped. “Nope, nope nope. _You’re_ the one who called him fan service.”

“Because he totally _is!”_ Marinette hissed. “He looks like a model, he is _cut_ , and is wearing a freaking black leather catsuit, _are you kidding me?”_

“And-” Alya gasped. “And- You, offer him a _cookie?”_

“Well, to be fair, I usually _do_ have snacks around.” Marinette sniffed. “ _You_ should know that.”

“Okay.” Alya giggled. “So you hang out on your balcony with snacks to see if a stray will drop in?”

“Alya!” Marinette sounded aghast. “You really make it sound dirty!”

“Oh no, you do that all on your own.” Alya retorted smugly.

“I’m done talking to you.” Marinette snapped.

“Okay. Okay.” Alya said. She sighed, probably trying to compose herself. “Alright. No judgement, promise. I’m listening.”

“You’re a filthy liar.” Marinette muttered rebelliously. “So, honestly, I’m not up there like, pining away or anything. Sometimes I see him and Ladybug patrolling, sometimes he goes by and doesn’t stop. _It’s not like that.”_

“But you’re still out there.” Alya pointed out.

“Well, yeah.” Marinette grumbled. “If I’m home and it’s nice, and what I’m working on it portable, then yes, I like to sit outside and enjoy the weather. And yes, I usually have snacks. Because _baker.”_

Nino had managed to pull himself together, and was grinning at Adrien lecherously. Adrien narrowed his own eyes and glared in response.

“So, _yes,_ ” Marinette continued, “He does stop and say hello _sometimes_. And by ‘sometimes’ I mean ‘a few times a month,’ you filthy-minded heathen.”

“Why do you think that is?” Alya wondered faux-innocently.

“Well, he remembers me from the Evillustrator incident.” Marinette replied. “And...well, they don’t get a lot of thanks, you know? He and Ladybug do a lot, so if he drops by, the least I could do is give him a snack and a chance to sit down.”

Okay, maybe Adrien wasn’t _too_ mad at Marinette.

“And ogle him.” Alya added.

“A little.” Marinette agreed. “His shoulders are _amazing._ And then his back, and it just- _whew.”_

“Whose mind is in the gutter?” Alya teased.

“Mine, a little.” Marinette admitted easily. “He’s seriously got _great_ shoulders.”

“And is also a professional flirt. Which, by the way, you don’t seem to mind.” Alya added.

“Hmm… No, not _really._ ” Marinette considered. “It’s not.. Hmm. I don’t know.”

There was a pause while Marinette seemed to consider her words. Nino, the ass, was now waggling his eyebrows at Adrien. Adrien smashed his sandwich crust into Nino’s face unapologetically. 

“He really is _nice_.” Marinette said finally. “Once he calms the hell down. And...honestly, he flirts like he _breathes_ , you know? It’s just how he is. But he’s not, like, _raunchy_ about it. And since I know that’s just how he is, it doesn’t really mean anything.”

“So…” Alya considered. “So, just, like, practice?”

“Yeah.” Marinette seemed relieved. “That’s _exactly_ it. I mean, we’re _teenagers._ Hormones. Nearly _everyone_ flirts to some degree, you know? And it’s never serious...mostly. So, he’s not serious, either. He’s just a teenage boy.”

“Oh, girl…” Alya sounded unaccountably sympathetic, and Adrien wondered if they were still talking about Chat Noir. “He’ll figure it out someday.”

“Sure.” Marinette replied despondently. “Just as soon as I learn to speak coherently and not trip over thin air every time he looks at me.”

“So!” Alya said brightly. “You think he’s a teenager like us? There’s a lot of controversy about their ages, you know.”

“Yes, I know.” Marinette said dryly. “I’ve seen the polls for that, too. And...yes, I do think he’s a teenager. Within a year or two of our age, probably.”

“So, as my new Chat Noir analyst, why do you think that is?” Alya asked teasingly.

“Okay, first off, I am not your Chat Noir-related _anything._ ” Marinette sniffed. “He drops in on my balcony a few times a month, for a few minutes at a time, to say hello and casually flirt. I’m pretty sure he gets the same treatment on other balconies.”

“You think teenage girls are hanging out on balconies trying to tempt Chat Noir with cookies.” Alya said dubiously.

“Not exactly.” Marinette sounded put out. “I mean, I’m sure that there are other people with balconies or terraces...like apartment buildings, right? So, maybe they just wave or say hello, or leave a chair out for him. Grandmas with tea maybe? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure I’m not the only Parisian he visits.”

In point of fact, Adrien thought, she _was._ And privately wondered at the implications of that. 

“So, I’m not exactly some kind of superhero expert.” Marinette finished. “I thought that was your job, anyway?”

“Well, sure, but I don’t exactly get exclusive interviews with them.” Alya said. “Aside from that one time with Ladybug, I mean. Maybe I need a balcony.”

“And cookies.” Marinette added.

“But, regardless,” Alya continued, “ _Between the two of us,_ why do you think he’s close to our age?”

“Because of how he looks at people.” Marinette replied thoughtfully. “The flirting thing only happens with people _around_ our age. I mean, I think he’ll ogle anyone from about teenage years to early twenties. But...I’ve seen some of your unedited footage. Remember that one lady? After the incident with a hot dog vendor?”

“Oh, the innuendos…” Alya sighed.

 _“Focus.”_ Marinette replied. “Afterwards. Remember the blonde bombshell who was batting her eyes at him?”

“The one who not-very-subtly slipped him her phone number?” Alya giggled.

“Yeah, that one.” Marinette said. “Anyway, I figure she was about...twenty-five? Maybe a little older?”

Adrien _well_ remembered that woman. She had been pretty, in a peroxide-blonde and too-short-shorts kind of way. ( _"I don’t mind being blindfolded."_ )

Nino was giving him a _look_ again, and Adrien took a bite of his apple and studiously ignored his friend’s questioning gaze.  

“He dropped her number in a trash can.” Marinette said. Adrien blinked, wondering how she knew that. Had Alya caught that on tape?

“He didn’t really seem interested.” Marinette mused. “I mean, outside of the whole ego trip of ‘hot girl hitting on me.’ I think if he were closer to her age, he might have looked at bit more interested.”

“So in other words, she was too old for him.” Alya hummed. “I bet she’d have a fit to know that.”

“Probably.” Marinette agreed. “So...yeah. He’s flirting, but it’s casual… Like he’s learning what works and doesn’t, not the ‘I know what I’m doing and want to get in your pants’ kind of way. Practice. Like a _teenager_.”

“Okay, casual flirt, check.” Alya said.

“He’s not interested in anyone younger than thirteen or older than about twenty.” Marinette added.

“Age range preference, check.” Alya agreed.

“And...he relates well to me, when we’ve talked. He’s friendly, but in a ‘I get you’ way, not an ‘I’m humoring you’ way. So I don't think he's younger than lycee, but I don't think he’s, say, in University either. So…”

“Personal experience and relatable to our age range, check.” Alya hummed thoughtfully. “Well, too bad I can’t publish this...are you sure I can’t hire you or something?”

“How would you even pay me?” Marinette sounded amused. 

“My friendship isn’t payment enough?” Alya said in mock-offense.

“No.”

“Rude!” Alya gasped. “Well, if I can’t publish, and I can’t hire you, I guess I’ll just have to keep this to myself.”

“Good girl.” Marinette said approvingly.

“Can I at least add Mambo number five to the polls?”

Adrien choked.  
-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Fan service.” Nino sighed.

“Shut up, Nino.” Adrien groused.

 _“Fan service.”_ Nino grinned.

“Shut _up,_ Nino.” Adrien gritted out, fighting the blush.

 _“Fan service~”_ Nino sang. Albeit quietly, because there were still a few people lingering in the school courtyard, but _still._

 _“God dammit Nino-!”_ Adrien rounded, sucking in an offended breath between his teeth, ready to let loose on his completely not-terrified _former_ friend.

“Hey boys.”

Both boys stopped, turning surprised faces on Alya, who was wandering towards them.

“Oh, uh, hey Alya!” Adrien greeted awkwardly. Next to him, Nino grinned, apparently thinking he'd won. 

“Did you two have a nice lunch today?” Alya stopped in front of them, smiling pleasantly.

Both Nino and Adrien froze.

“Uh…yeah.” Nino said finally. “It was great.”

“Wonderful.” Alya replied brightly. “Marinette and I had lunch in the park across the way. You know, the one with that cute little grove? Big, old trees?”

“Oh, really?” Adrien tried for studied nonchalance, but could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rising.

“Nice place.” Nino added.

“Mari and I had a really interesting conversation,” Alya continued, leaning against the wall next to them and frowning thoughtfully. “It was actually about Ladybug and Chat Noir.”

“Big surprise.” Nino jibbed.

“Really?” Alya giggled. “But it made me think about what they might be like _outside_ the mask. I mean, do they act the same, or is the mask an excuse to cut loose and behave differently?”

“What do you mean?” Adrien asked, relaxing a bit as he scanned the road. Gorilla should be arriving any minute now - he’d had to pick up his father, and was running a bit behind. Adrien could have easily walked home on his own, normally he _would_ have, but his father frowned on it.

“Well, I mean, the mask gives you a certain anonymity, right?” Alya said. “You could do things, say things, that you wouldn’t normally, because nobody really has a way to hold you accountable for it.”

Adrien frowned. “I would think that as much as they’re in the public eye, they’d be held to a _higher_ standard, rather than given more leeway.”

“Possibly.” Alya hummed. “But if it’s just something like being more assertive, or flirting, it would be overlooked. Relatively harmless, right?”

“Possibly…” Nino and Adrien exchanged a frown.

“Did you know that Nino and I have known each other since we were in diapers?” Alya glanced at Adrien.

Startled by the apparent non-sequitur, Adrien frowned. “Um, yeah, he mentioned it. Crazy, considering you only transferred to this school at the beginning of the year.”

“Yeah, I know right? Dads were roommates in Uni, and mom’s had the same major.” Alya clucked her tongue. “We never had a chance.”

“Must have been destiny.” Adrien agreed lightly.

“Damn right.” Alya grinned. “And Nino is a good guy - I know he’d never condone or encourage anyone leading a girl on. I mean, that’s just _cruel_ , and Nino would never encourage cruel behavior.”

“He’s a good guy.” Adrien said into the silence as Nino frowned at Alya thoughtfully.

“The best!” Alya agreed brightly, but there was a gleam in her eyes that was less than pleasant. “He’s been Marinette’s friend for _years_ now, too! I mean, aside from that weird week at the beginning to the year where my boy apparently found his mojo and turned into a stuttering mess, they’ve gotten along great. I’m sure he’d be upset if someone was leading her on.”

Nino’s cheeks heated, and Adrien chuckled nervously. 

“I hope that Chat Noir and Ladybug have friends like that, who wouldn’t encourage them to cut loose just because they’re wearing a mask.” Alya worried her lower lip. “I mean, personally, I don’t think I’d be able to resist, at least a little. Kind of like taking an extra cookie, you know? No harm, because it doesn’t mean anything and you’ll never get caught.”

“I’m sure they do, Alya.” Nino said pleasantly. “They seem like nice enough people - I’m sure they have good friends who help keep them grounded.”

Adrien had the distinct feeling he’d missed something.

“That’s great!” Alya chirped. “I need to get going, but I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay?”

Alya pushed off of the wall, and Adrien opened his mouth to bid her farewell, when she paused and half-turned, hand perched on her hip as she looked at the two boys over her shoulder.

“Ah, guys?”

“Yes?” Adrien asked.

“You’re not as slick as you think you are.” Only years of posing held back the flinch, and next to him, Nino swallowed compulsively. “Next time, just come out from behind the tree, okay?”

The two boys nodded mutely, and Alya smiled pleasantly. 

“Good.” She purred, smirking at Adrien. “I’m so glad we could have this _chat_.”

Waving over her shoulder, she strode off down the road.

“Dude,” Nino said faintly, “We are so busted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Nino knows Adrien is Chat Noir and is entirely amused that his meek, mild-mannered best friend is a super hero. Alya is fully aware that Adrien is Chat Noir, and she's not stupid - she knows Nino is in on it. It wasn't really implied in this story, but my headcannon says that if Alya knows who Chat is, she dang sure knows who Ladybug is, and is patiently waiting for everyone to decide to fess up. Though she _didn't_ know about the Marichat shenanigans, so, like a true bff, she stepped in to make sure that the two boys knew to toe the line around her girl.


	23. Bean bag (Distance)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has the most comfortable seat in the world, and he's rather loathe to leave it.  
> Prompt 21: Distance

Marinette slipped into Adrien’s room, frowning when she didn’t see him. Computer desk? Empty. Bed? Neatly made (weirdo). Couch? Nope, not there either. 

Maybe she’d just thought she’d heard a noise after she knocked, and mistakenly thought it was him? It wasn’t outside the realm of possibility - that damn room was _huge_ , it probably echoed.

“Adrien?” She called out tentatively. She closed the door behind her, and Tikki phased out of her purse to hover at her shoulder. “Plagg?”

Movement out of the corner of her eye had her turning her head, and she frowned thoughtfully at Adrien’s hand waving lazing in the air from in front of the windows. Making her way over, she set her books on the coffee table as she eyed the giant bean bag and the boy curled up on it affectionately. 

“What are you, a cat?” She joked. Tikki giggled.

Adrien and Plagg were both curled up on the singular largest beanbag she had ever seen - it could easily fit two or three adults. A bowl of popcorn and a water bottle lay off to the side. The bag itself, she noted, had been perfectly positioned in the afternoon light streaming in through the windows.

Adrien cracked an eye and regarded her lazily before closing it again. “Sometimes.”

Well, that was true, Marinette agreed. Though the bleed over from their alter egos did gift (or curse) them with some more...animalistic...tendencies.

“Two little kittens, curled up in a sunbeam.” She cooed, and Adrien eyes opened to glittering green slits as he stared up at her. He had, she noticed, perfected Plagg’s deadpan you’re-not-as-funny-as-you-think-you-are stare. She grinned unrepentantly. “Where did you even get that thing?”

“The internet is amazing.” Adrien yawned widely. “Are you early? I set an alarm.”

“Your phone is over on your desk.” Marinette pointed out. “But, yes, I’m early. And it’s a safe bet Nino and Alya will be running late. I brought the books over because they, and I quote ‘had to run back to Nino’s for a few things.’”

Adrien snorted, closing his eyes again. Plagg’s ear twitched, but he didn’t otherwise move. “I don’t know why they bother to lie - nobody is fooled. I’m glad you’re here though.”

“Oh? Did you miss my sparkling wit and pretty face?” Marinette grinned. 

“Somebody is in a playful mood.” Adrien remarked. “And, yes, I did. _But_...can you reach the popcorn?”

“The popcorn?” Marinette glanced down. “It’s right by your feet.”

“I know.” Adrien waved his arm blindly at his feet, demonstrating that the bowl was out of reach. “I can’t reach it.”

“Did you try sitting up?” Marinette asked wryly. “Just saying - that might help.”

“Don’t be mean.” Adrien whined. “It’s sunny Friday nap time.”

“Poor Kitty,” Marinette smirked. “Paris’ savior, felled by a sunbeam.”

“On a giant bean bag.” Adrien added. “It new. I’ve finally earned it’s trust. I can’t leave it now.”

Marinette scrutinized the bowl. “Does this have salt?”

“No.”

“Butter?”

“Model diet: no.”

“Then there is no point in eating this.” Marinette decided, making a face. “Waste your calories on something worthwhile.”

“Marinette.” Adrien sounded weary. “Popcorn is one of the few things I can legitimately pig out on. Have mercy.”

“You need way more calories than you’re getting.” Marinette argued. “I mean it.”

Adrien’s eyes opened, and he turned his head to regard her sadly. “I know.”

Aaannddd just like that, Marinette deflated. His calorie intake, or lack thereof, had been a regular argument since they’d revealed their identities to each other. Adrien was resolute on not telling his father about his alter ego, and though Marinette agreed that it was a good idea, she was concerned because she knew Adrien was on a strict diet: one that didn’t account for his superhero activities.

Adrien knew it too: he’d once admitted to her that he was almost always a little hungry, and very rarely got to eat his fill on anything. It made Marinette angry, but there wasn’t much she could do about it besides try to sneak Adrien food when she could, and make sure that he had seconds when he came to her house for dinner.

“Well, lucky for you I swung by the bakery on my way here.” Marinette smiled, setting her backpack down and pulling out a small , bright green tupperware container. Above Adrien, Plagg’s head shot up, eyes opening to pin her with a hungry stare - much like his human, whose expression had gone from sad to intent in a heartbeat.

 _Little pig._ Marinette thought affectionately. “Yes, Plagg, I got you something, too.”

“What is it?” Adrien asked eagerly, now fully awake as he regarded her.

“For Plagg?” Marinette feigned confusion. “A cheese-stuffed croissant, of course.”

Adrien’s eye narrowed fractionally. “Are you teasing me, my lady?”

“Me? I would never.” Marinette put on her best hurt expression, hand over her heart as she balanced the tupperware in her free hand. “I wounded that you would think so.”

“Tease.” Adrien said flatly, but his lips twitched.

“Ah, Monsieur Agreste.” Marinette waved her finger at him reprovingly. “A tease is someone who doesn’t follow through, and a lady never teases.”

Adrien’s eyes narrowed a little, obviously working through the implications of that statement. “So…. you’ll give me some food?”

“Did I ever say I brought you food?” Marinette’s grin was languid as she hefted the plastic container a little higher. Cracking it open, she pulled out a cookie for Tikki and the aforementioned cheese croissant for Plagg. Tikki took both and drifted down to the bean bag, handing Plagg his treat.

“If I have to get up,” Adrien said lowly, gaze still fixed on her, “I’m going to tackle you, kiss you stupid, and then take whatever you have in there that you’re teasing me with.”

Marinette’s breath caught and her heart did a little flip, but she buried it under a raised eyebrow and a cocky smirk. “But _Adrikins,_ I’m just doing this to help yo- _uu!”_

Her statement was cut off as Adrien moved with surprising speed, covering the distance between them in a full-bodied lunge that Marinette had to move fast to avoid. Luckily the room was _huge_ , so she didn’t have to constantly dodge, just be quick enough to avoid him. 

He hurdled the coffee table easily and used one hand to balance himself as he vaulted the back of the couch in pursuit of her. Marinette dashed for his desk, kicking the chair at him, but he jumped over that _too,_ and Marinette mentally cursed. Racing towards the skate ramp (Really? He didn’t even skate.) she snapped the tupperware shut, running up the side of it, using her enhanced leg strength to flip back over his head as he pursued her. 

It gained her a little ground, but not much as she tore through the room. Adrien had been fast and agile even _before_ Plagg, but now he was damn tricky to evade. And as large as the room was, it was still relatively close quarters for people who were used to using entire city blocks for this kind of thing. 

Running by the couch, Marinette snatched up a couch throw pillow and hurled it at him, cursing as he batted it away. Turning, Marinette dashed for the stairs, hoping she could go over a banister or something to evade him just a little longer. 

She never made it. Adrien twisted practically in mid-air, arms catching her around the shoulders even as he twisted to cushion the blow. The hit the ground in a tangle of limbs, the tupperware container rolling away helplessly. 

“Are you hurt?” Marinette asked, wide-eyed as she gawked at Adrien lying partly underneath her. 

“A little winded.” Adrien admitted.

“But you’re okay, right?” Marinette asked, shoving her arms down to lever herself up at stare at him. 

“Um, well… just move your hip, and I’ll be better.” Adrien cringed, glancing away from her towards the plastic container lying upside down a few meters away. “Aww. They’re probably squished.”

Marinette blinked, realizing that her hip was pretty much wedged between up his legs. _Way_ up between his legs.

“Probably?” She squeaked breathlessly, face flushing as she bolted up, scooting backwards frantically. “You mean you can’t feel them?!”

“What?” Adrien’s nose wrinkled as he looked down at her. “No, why could I? They’re still in the tupperware container, right?” He asked, pointing to the tupperware.

“You- you meant-?” Marinette’s face turned even more red, and she buried her face in her hands with a groan. 

“What did you think I mean- _Ohh._ ” Adrien started laughing. Was still laughing, in fact, and pointing, when Marinette’s embarrassment turned to irritation asn she pushed herself up to stalk over and snatch up the innocent container that had started it all.

“Nevermind.” Marinette sniffed. “I hope they _hurt.”_

“No you don’t.” Adrien sat up cross-legged and grinned. “In fact, your concern is-”

“Don’t you say it.” Marinette warned, eyes narrowing dangerously.

 _“-Touching.”_ Adrien finished ruthlessly.

Marinette shrieked at hurled the container at him. Adrien, the ass, only caught it, still laughing as she stomped back over towards his bean bag. She smirked when she heard his squawk of dismay.

“Hey!” He shot to his feet, expression aghast as he chased after her. _“This container is empty!”_

“Served you right, you perverted jerk.” Marinette sniffed, glaring at him.

“But...but…” Adrien pointed at the two kwami, who, having finished their snacks, were now napping contentedly in the sun. _“Cheese!”_

Marinette flopped onto the edge of the bean bag, squeaking a little as she sank, before readjusting to smirk up at her gaping boyfriend. “I’m sorry, but you’ll need to be more coherent if you wish to say something.”

Adrien waved the container towards her. “You seriously brought _Plagg_ a snack, but not me? You’re a cruel woman.”  He sounded so baffled, and a little hurt, that Marinette softened. Still, she wasn’t going to make it _that_ easy on him - if she did, he’d definitely use it next time.

“Well…” Marinette leaned back, crossing one leg over the other and rolling her ankle idly. “You are on a model diet. I wouldn’t want to be the one responsible for you getting fat or anything.”

Adrien’s eyes narrowed. “You’re teasing me.”

“Am I?” Marinette widened her eyes innocently. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you’re annoyed that I caught you.” Adrien replied.

“Not quite.” Marinette cocked her eyebrow, then mused aloud. “Though, really, I guess I should be annoyed at _Nino_ ; you never would have made such a terrible statement without his influence.”  

“If you believe that, you clearly don’t know me as well as you claim.” Adrien snorted. 

“I was giving you an out, you know.” Marinette felt compelled to point out to him. “You could have just blamed everything on him.”

“You could have just told me the snack was for Tikki and Plagg and not let me think there was something for me.” Adrien shot back. 

“I told you: a lady never teases.” Marinette replied, uncrossing her legs and hooking the strap of her back pack. “Besides, you promised to kiss me stupid, and I don’t see that happening yet.”

Leaning forward, Marinette reached into her backpack and withdrew a small hot/cold bag. Opening it, she showed him three generously sized tarts, filled with chicken, cheese and spinach. 

“You were saying?” Marinette teased.

“I take it all back.” Adrien replied, sitting next to her and taking the small plate she offered. “I love you.”

“You love my food.”

“Nope.” Adrien hummed appreciatively. “This is your mom’s recipe. I love her, too, but I love you more.”

“Glad to be of use.” Marinette picked up the third tart and set it on his plate so she could eat hers directly over the container.

“Now I love you most.” Adrien grinned at the second tart.

“You had to skip lunch to make a shoot.” Marinette confessed. “They never let you eat at those things, and you probably didn’t get a big breakfast, either. Nino is going to try to sneak a pizza in, but unless Nathalie is feeling sympathetic…”

“He knows he can bribe her with a slice since father is out of town.” Adrien smiled. “She just has to be a hardass when she might get caught.”

“Hmm.” Marinette set down the container and leaned against his shoulder. “This is a comfortable chair.”

“Sure is.” Adrien set the plate down, hooking at arm around her waist to pull her back. She didn’t resist, instead rolling over to snuggle up against him. “Hey.”

“Hmm?” Marinette’s eyes had closed.

“I promised you something.” Adrien reminded her.

Marinette smothered a yawn. “I’m already _stupid_ ly in love with you.” She tilted her chin up a bit and packed him on the lips. “Mission accomplished.”

Adrien grinned and pulled her closer, idly pulling her ribbons out of her pigtails and tossing them to the side. Marinette made a vague noise of annoyance but didn’t otherwise protest. Fluffing the hair a bit, Adrien wound his fingers through the strands and leaned in to rub her nose with his affectionately. 

“I don’t think that’s right.” He mused. “A pretty girl notices I didn’t get to eat, and goes out of her way to bring me a proper meal? That deserves a real thank you.”

Closing the distance between them, he captured her lips with his own.

An hour later Alya and Nino arrived, slightly breathless, with a pizza missing one slice and apologies on their lips. They were at first confused by the quiet, but eventually found the four of them curled up, napping, on a giant bean bag in the middle of the sunlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcannon says that this falls into my An Unlikely Friendship universe, and is set after Alya and Nino know about Marinette and Adrien's rather unorthodox extracurricular activities.


	24. Whoops

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 22: Whoops!

_”Whoops.”_

Marinette hadn’t been paying attention when the stylist had said it, but considering that a blast had just shaken the building she was in, she could excuse her inattention.

“What was that?” Marinette yelped, eyes blown wide as she glanced around.

Really, the question was rhetorical. As the next blast rocked the building everyone began scrambling for safer ground and Marinette joined the throng, pushing her way out back and loosely following the scattering customers before she ducked into a side alley. Glancing around to make sure nobody else was nearby, she called for Tikki and leapt away.

Once atop a nearby building, Ladybug paused, grimacing as she realized her hair was still loose, and wet. She was still trying to figure out what to _do_ about it when Chat Noir joined her, flashing his trademark easy grin and cocksure attitude. 

“Hey LB.” He said, offering a quick, two-fingered salute. “Catch you at a bad time?”

“Kind of.” Ladybug grumbled. “I don’t have any way to hold my hair back.”

Chat pursed his lips consideringly, then shrugged. “I’m afraid I’ve got nothing to offer. I don’t really carry hair ties around.”

“That’s okay, Chat.” Ladybug said kindly. “It’ll be awkward, but we’ve done awkward before.”

“All kinds of awkward.” Chat agreed. “Ready?”

“As ever.” Ladybug replied with a grin.  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

_”Whoops.”_

Five hours later, Marinette was staring into a mirror and bitterly remembering her stylist muttering that word as the blast sent everything shaking. She wished she’d paid more attention at the time, but even then, what could she have done? It would have been too late.

It helped that there were two other people who’d gotten an unexpected haircut thanks to the akuma - #NewAkumaDo was even trending on social media, and there was at least one other pixie cut out there. It also helped that the apologetic salon had given Marinette the rest of the haircut free of charge: she’d saved a pretty chunk of change, but she’d also wound up with a style _way_ shorter than her normal trim.

Her hair was now _short. Boyishly_ short. _Shorter than Chat Noir’s_ short. And she had until tomorrow to reconcile herself to it before having to go to school and face her class.

“You just have to have confidence, Marinette.” Tikki said consolingly. “If you act like you like it, nobody will know any different. Or, you can just say it was the akuma’s fault like other people are doing.”

Marinette ran her finger through her now drastically shorter hair and sighed. “Well, it’s not bad, actually. I’ve got the face shape to pull it off. It’s just...unexpected.”

Tikki nodded, knowing full well how difficult it could be for Marinette to adapt to sudden change. She did well when she was Ladybug, but out of costume was a different matter. Still, her charge wasn’t crying, or panicking, or any number of things she’d seen other Ladybugs do over the millennia. (Because teenage girls were teenage girls, no matter what century it was.)

Marinette ran a hand over the now naked nape of her neck, and sighed ruefully. “I’ll be okay. It will just take some getting used to.”  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

“Hey, Mari- _whoa._ ” 

“H- Hey.” Marinette smiled awkwardly at her gaping best friend. “Good morning?”

“What _happened?_ ” Was Alya’s response as she gestured wildly at Marinette’s new pixie bob.

“Akuma attack.” Marinette muttered. “Do you like it?”

“Oh, shit, did you post a pic on Twitter?” Alya asked, grinning. “There’s like, twenty of them from yesterday’s akuma.”

“Not yet.” Marinette said. “I’m still adjusting to it. What do you think?”

“Think?” Alya tilted her head, then gestured for Marinette to do a spin. “I think that looks _great_ on you, actually. We should find that akuma and totally say thank you.”

“Really?” Marinette asked, her shy smile turning suspicious as she eyeballed her best friend. “You’re not just saying that, are you?”

“No way.” Alya assured her. “I mean, my face shape couldn’t carry that off, but you have absolutely got the pixie face to rock it. I love it. In fact,” She added slyly, “I bet _Adrien_ will love it, too.”

“Ad- _Adrien?_ ” Marinette mumbled, face heating at the mention of her long-time crush. Sure, they weren’t in the same class any more, and sure, she was _mostly_ able to speak around him, but… 

Yeah, she still had it bad.

“Do you really think so?” She squeaked, hand automatically rising to yank on her pigtail nervously, only to frown when she realized it wasn’t there anymore.

Alya’s eye flicked to a spot over Marinette’s shoulder. “Absolutely.”

Marinette spun around just in time to see Adrien and Nino walking up the steps. Nino’s red headphones were hung loosely around his neck, gleaming in the morning sunlight as he leaned over, showing Adrien something on his phone. Adrien nodded along, absently dribbling his basketball up the stairs as he walked.

Marinette admired the coordination that must have taken - especially to do it without even looking. But then again, she admired a lot about Adrien.

“Hey boys!” Alya lifted a hand to wave. 

Nino and Adrien both looked up, sporting identical, welcoming grins.

“Hey girlfriend.” Nino called as they drew a little closer. Next to him, Adrien rolled his eyes in mock-exasperation.

Alya and Nino had officially begun dating at the end of last year, and were still on what Marinette had termed the “disgustingly sweet” stage. Marinette was happy for her friend - Nino was a great guy, and he and Alya made a terrific couple - but third-wheeling it was always a little awkward. Especially when _her_ crush wound up being the fourth wheel - and then the subtle comments about double-dating if only _someone_ would get their act together…

She wasn’t even sure who that was directed at - Aly and Nino both made the jab from time-to-time. 

“Nice hair, Mari.” Nino said, drawing Marinette’s attention. “When did you do that?”

“Sunday.” Marinette said dryly.

“Sun- Oh, so it’s an Akuma-do, huh?” Nino mused. “Did you post a picture yet?”

“No, I’m still getting used to it.” Marinette shook her head.

“It looks great on you, Mari.” Adrien said reassuringly, smiling at her.

Marinette immediately blushed. “O-oh. Do you...really think so?”

“Yeah, absolutely.” Adrien nodded. “Pixie bobs are in, and you totally have the face for it.”

“And you would know, wouldn’t you, Monsieur Model?” Alya teased.

“Yep.” Adrien smiled. “I’ve been seeing a lot of them on shoots. Something about funky, fresh fall looks? Personally,” he added wryly, “I think they just like the letter F.”

Nino snorted. “Whatever. Bell’s about to ring. See you ladies for lunch?”

“Absolutely.” Alya nodded, grabbing Mari’s wrist to drag her towards their first class. “Later, boys.”

“Bye!” Marinette called, waving over her shoulder as he was pulled away.  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

By Wednesday’s patrol, Marinette was feeling pretty confident with her new look. And, after some careful conversation with Tikki, she’d decided to take a different track with her partner, and pretend the haircut was a deliberate act on her part.

“Hey my lady, nice haircut.”

Ladybug turned, grinning brightly at Chat as he touched down on the rooftop behind her. His baton retracted automatically, and he twirled it idly as he approached.

“Thanks! What do you think?” She planted her palm on a cocked hip, smirking as she posed for him.

“That you look stunning, as always.” Chat grinned. “What brought on the new look?”

“Well,” Ladybug grimaced. “I’d been toying with the idea for a while, but after the last akuma and getting caught like that, I decided to go for it.”

Which wasn’t true at all, and Ladybug felt a twinge of guilt for lying to her friend. Luckily, the chunk the stylist had taken out of the back of her head hadn’t been really noticeable when her hair had been wet - only glaringly obvious when her hair had dried. Still, she and Tikki had agreed that it wouldn’t do to lump her in with the akuma-do group - it would make her easier to single out, if Chat went looking. Which neither of them thought he would, but still agreed better safe than sorry.

“And the colors?” Chat asked, leaning over to examine the red streaks in her hair. “Are they- ah, clip ins?”

“Yeah, I got a few different colors.” Marinette bent her head so he could get a better look - not that she really needed to, he could see the top of her head just fine. 

When had he gotten so _tall?_ Last year when they’d started, they were nearly eye-to-eye, but now her nose would brush his bicep if she turned her head. 

“Cute, you can change depending on your outfit.” Chat grinned. “I like it.”

“I do, too.” Ladybug smiled in return. “Ready to go?”

“After you, my lady.” Chat said, sweeping into a low bow. 

“Such a gentleman.” Ladybug giggled, before hooking her yo-yo and swinging off. 

The absence of her pigtails made the weight on her head different. The ends of the strands tickled the tips of her ears and occasionally flew forward ind into her peripheral vision. Still, Ladybug thought, feeling the breeze on her neck as she swung through the night, she liked it.


	25. Sick Day

A hand shot out and clamped over his mouth, dragging him back into an alley with surprising strength. His arm was pulled up behind him awkwardly.

“Don’t struggle.” A voice hissed in his ear as a cloth was looped over his eyes and knotted firmly behind his head.

Adrien, who had been preparing to do exactly that, stilled. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He hissed angrily.

“Nope.” The voice sounded incredibly smug, and Adrien kind of wanted to step on their toes for that reason alone. “This is a kidnapping.”

Someone grasped his other wrist, and his hands were bound together loosely before he was pushed forward with a rough hand between his shoulder blades. Without preamble, he was hustled forward, a hand pushing his head down as he was shoved into the back seat of a car.

“You _blindfolded_ him?” A familiar voice asked, sounding amused. Judging by the direction, they were in the front passenger seat 

“And tied his hands behind his back.” Said the still-smug-sounding person next to him.

“Does anybody want to tell me what’s going on?” Adrien demanded, annoyed.

“Babe, do you have a kink we need to be made aware of?” A third, equally amused voice asked from the driver’s side.

“Maybe!” His abductor said cheerfully. “Are we all set? Ready to go?”

“Go where?” Adrien asked.

“Don’t worry your pretty head about it.” Nino said cheerfully. “We’ve just decided that since you had to spend your entire childhood acting like an adult, you could take a weekend and act like a child.”

“My dad is going to kill you.” Adrien replied. “I’ve got things to do today - you’ll never get away with it.”

“Oh, don’t worry too much.” Alya drawled. “We already took care of your father.”

“Wait, what? What did you _do?_ ” Adrien demanded, aghast.

"Me?" His wife replied with false innocence. "Nothing. You're sick today. Very ill. Cough, sweetie."

Under his blindfold, Adrien blinked. "You three are all idiots." He said fondly

 

Up in his office, Gabriel and Nathalie watched calmly as Adrien was abducted by his best friend while their wives waited in the getaway car.

Nathalie rolled her eyes. “What are they doing again?”

Calmly, Gabriel handed her a napkin.

 

_Father,_

_Adrien is taking a sick day next Friday. We are kidnapping him and taking him on a weekend trip to Disney World. See you Monday!_  
                                                                                 Love,  
                                                                              Marinette  
P.S: Shh! It’s a secret! 

 

“The schedule Adrien had on his desk had him slotted for two meetings and a fitting today.” Gabriel said. “Yet, when I looked at the official one, his schedule was cleared and a sick day had been noted.”

“Marinette arranged this vacation some time ago and I know she said they were going to kidnap him, but I didn’t think they meant it literally.” Nathalie sounded amused despite herself. 

Gabriel rolled his eyes, exasperated. "I don't pretend to understand this group's antics."


	26. Wrong Number

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ML Fluff Month Prompt 24: Wrong Number

Ladybug and Chat Noir sat in their favorite spot atop the Eiffel Tower, examining the new phones in their hands. 

“Wow, they didn’t skimp, did they?” Ladybug turned the brand-new, top-of-the-line phone in her hands. “Even got us cases for them.”

“I know, right?” Chat was already toying with his phone, checking out the various apps and the camera functions. “I can sync it up to my watch too, so that’s pretty cool.”

Mayor Bourgeois had purchased phones for the duo, so that they could be reached in case of an emergency. The GPS was disabled, he assured them, so that they couldn’t be tracked by people wishing to discover their identities. (Personally, Ladybug had her doubts, but wasn’t about to say so to the man’s face.) The plans on them were good, too. Not unlimited, but still pretty generous, considering that they were only supposed to be for emergency use.

“The Mayor’s number is already pre-programmed in here.” Chat noted.

“As well as a whole laundry list of city officials.” Ladybug noted, scrolling through the police chief, news station managers and city council members. “Do you think all of these people have our phone number, too?”

“Probably.” Chat shrugged, then barked out a laugh. “Oh my gosh - Chloe programmed her number in!”

“Oh _no,_ ” Ladybug groaned. “The calls will never stop.”

“For you, maybe.” Chat sniggered. “She doesn’t like me half as much as she likes you.”

“Please, no, she’s all yours.” Ladybug grumbled. “Take her.”

Chat held up the phone. “Caller ID photo. Say ‘cheese!’”

Ladybug laughed, waving her hand to stave him off before scooting in closer and throwing her arm over his shoulders. “Cheese!”

Later that night, Marinette and Tikki lay in her bed, and Marinette programmed a few other numbers into the phone.

“You do know that’s for business calls, right?” Tikki prodded her gently.

“Yes, of course.” Marinette assured her. “But I’m also putting in a few other numbers - Alya, since she runs the Ladyblog, and a few people who are the more regular akuma targets.”

“Alya?” Tikki cocked her head curiously.

“Yeah - she’s kind of my go-to source for akuma information.” Marinette nodded absently.

Alya had, in fact, devoted a portion of her blog to creating an akuma alert system. Anyone could go and post a potential akuma sighting, and Alya would get a message. It had been so popular a few news stations had picked up the idea, but Alya’s was still the most active.

And, truthfully, Marinette felt bad for not being able to confide in her best friend. So she subtly supported her as Ladybug, when she could. If Chat Noir realized that, he never said anything, but Marinette had noticed that he seemed to hold a special affection for her friend, too.

Did he flirt wit her, too? Marinette wondered. After all, Chat flirted with Ladybug all the time, and had flirted with Marinette too. Alya had never mentioned anything, but that might just be because she didn’t want to scare Nino off.

“And Adrien because…?” Tikki asked playfully. 

“He _and_ his father have been targeted numerous times.” Marinette defended staunchly, though her cheeks burned a little. “And I don’t think his father will offer up his own number, but at least I can notify Adrien if there’s trouble.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.” Tikki sounded way too much like Alya for Marinette’s peace of mind.

“Really!” She defended, still ignoring the heat in her cheeks, and cleared her throat. “So… do you think my parents would get me one of those watches?”

 

The system worked well for a few months. Ladybug gave Alya her phone number, under strict promises not to abuse the privilege, and Ladybug and Chat Noir were better able to respond to emergencies than ever before. And if Chloe liked to call or spam her with fan girl-style texts, well… Chat kind of did, too. And luckily, she hadn’t needed to reach out to any of the other frequent-target contacts, so those numbers stayed safely tucked into her phone.

At first, Marinette had simply set up call forwarding and had everything sent to her personal phone, but trying to keep the two separate had quickly gotten overwhelming, so Marinette eventually just made a larger purse, so she could hold everything and still allow Tikki to travel comfortably.

The trouble started one day when Marinette forgot to plug her personal phone into charge. When she’d woken up the next morning, her battery was down to 25%.

“Crap. Crap crap _crap._ ” She hissed under her breath. Well, it should be good until lunchtime, she reasoned, and she could just come home and plug it in then and let it charge while she ate.

So of _course_ there was an akuma attack. In between the fight, the clean up, and the brief reports to the police, Marinette never made it home for lunch, and completely forgot about her phone needing charged.

After school she, Alya, Nino and Adrien studied in the library. By the time Marinette got home, there was closing at the bakery, then dinner, then a bit of prep work for tomorrow before she finally pulled her mostly-completed homework out of her bag.

“Not too much, is it?” Tikki asked, hovering over her shoulder.

“No, just the literature essay, but that’s like, one page.” Marinette said, frowning. “I just wish I hadn’t lost that chemistry worksheet - I’m not looking forward to having to explain that to Madam Mendeleive.”

Of course, Marinette found it crumpled up at the bottom of her bag. 

“Oh no, it must have gotten shoved down there earlier!” She moaned, smoothing it out as she sat down at her desk.

It was quickly apparent that she was in over her head.

“Aww, crap…” She rooted around in her bag, then groaned again when she looked at her phone. 

Dead. Dead as the proverbial doornail.

“I guess I could...” She half turned to look up to where her charger was by her bed. “But I don’t have anything to write on up there. Or I could...” She pulled out her business phone, with it’s newer battery, that held a charge _a lot_ better, and was sitting there, innocently blinking at 79%.

“Marinette…” Tikki chided gently. “That’s for Ladybug use.”

“But Ladybug can’t fail this class.” Marinette argued. “And it’s already late. I don’t want to have to go up there, wait for it to charge enough to turn on, and then look for someone to help - they’re already getting ready for bed.”

“But who will you call?” Tikki frowned. “Alya knows the Ladybug phone number.”

“And she was about as lost as I was on this, anyway.” Marinette shot back, shaking her head. “I mean, I could call Nino, but I’d still be stuck waiting for my phone to boot, and that would defeat the point. Chloe is worse than useless, and out for the same reason as Alya is.”

“So that leaves…” Tikki prodded.

“Adrien.” Marinette gulped. “Well, he doesn’t have my number anyway, so it’s not like I’ll have to explain having a different one to him. And he’s almost as good at chemistry as he is as physics. He’s a good tutor - better than Nino, anyway. I’ll just have to be brave.”

“Because we need an A.” Tikki nodded.

“We need an A.” Marinette affirmed, and punched the _dial_ button.

 

Adrien was sitting in his room, cruising the Ladyblog before bed. Both phones were sitting next to him on the desk in their charging docks. He found it amusing that Mayor Bourgeois had gotten him the same phone he already had, so Adrien had made sure they had different backgrounds, so he knew which one he was on.

Not that it was very difficult. The Cat Phone (as he called it) only received calls from a few people - nearly everyone called Ladybug first, then left it to her to call him. And though he did text Ladybug, she and Alya were the only ones who texted him as Chat Noir. 

So when the phone rang and he saw Ladybug’s caller ID flashing across the screen, he didn’t think twice before picking it up. 

“Yes, my lady?” He purred into the phone, still perusing the forum he was on.

An inarticulate squeaking noise on the other end had him blinking in surprise.

“My lady?” He tried again.

Another strangled sound. 

“Are you alright?” Adrien was beginning to become worried. “Do you need help?”

“I- I’m fine!” A voice, high pitched and nervous, yelped. “Sor- sorry! Wrong number!”

The line went dead.

Blinking, Adrien pulled the phone away from his ear to stare at it, then began cursing roundly. Plagg, who had been curled up under the desk, zipped up to peer at the phone, then began laughing.

“You really screwed yourself over this time!” He chortled. “Way to go kid!”

Adrien had picked up his _personal_ phone.  He’d been so happy, when he’d gotten the phone, about having a way to contact his favorite superheroine, that he’d sent himself their selfie atop the tower, and then assigned it as the contact photo for the number he’d had memorized for months now. 

_Man,_ had that come back to bite him in the ass.

 

Marinette dropped the phone like it had burned her, leaping up so quickly that her chair toppled over backwards with a loud clatter. In her haste to get away from the suddenly-terrifying device as fast as humanly possible, Marinette tripped over her upended chair and fell in a glorious wind milling of limbs, smacking her head and her rear simultaneously as she hit the ground. 

“Ow…” She complained, torn between rubbing her head and her backside as she lay on the floor staring up at her unassuming ceiling. “Ow ow owww.”

Tikki was still staring at the phone, lying innocently atop a crumpled chemistry worksheet.

“Well.” She said finally. “That just happened.”

 _”Why_ did that just happen?” Marinette demanded, still lying on the floor, legs tangled in her desk chair.

“Did…” Tikki hesitated. “Did you give Adrien your phone number, by chance? You know, as Ladybug? And just forgot?”

“No!” Marinette propped herself up on her elbows as she shook her head vehemently. “Only Alya!”

“Would _she_ have given Adrien your number?” Tikki tried hopefully.

“No!” Marinette hesitated, nose wrinkling. “I mean, I don’t _think_ so, Alya’s usually more responsible than that.”

And if she had, Ladybug would yo-yo her ass off the Eiffel Tower a la Lila, Marinette thought viciously.

“But,” Marinette chewed her lip, “that was definitely _Chat_ who answered, not Adrien. But that was Adrien’s phone number.”

“Does Chat know Adrien?” Tikki had drifted down to hover near Marinette, who by this point had decided the floor was probably the better place to be. You know, just in case any _other_ ground-shaking revelations happened…

“Not as far as I know.” Marinette shook her head.

“Well then,” Tikki said finally, still looking a little shell-shocked, “I guess the only thing we can conclude is-”

“-That Adrien _is_ Chat Noir.” Marinette said heavily. “The real question is...what do I do now?”

 

The next day, Adrien was kind of a wreck. Ladybug hadn’t called him back, and when he’d called _her_ the phone had been turned off. Granted, Adrien had only tried twice, but he could take a hint: his lady needed some time to adjust to the new, unexpected knowledge.

He hoped she didn’t take too long - he had some questions of his own.

“How did she have my personal number, anyway?” He asked Plagg. 

“I don’t know.” Plagg shrugged.

“I mean, if she had that number, then we must know each other, right?” Adrien continued, raking his fingers through his hair and grasping the strands.

“I don’t know.” Plagg responded.

“That’s the only thing that makes sense - I mean, sure, there’s a lot of people who have my number, but none of them ever really call me casually. Or that late at night. So Ladybug and I must be friends outside the suit, too.” Adrien continued. 

“How do you know she was calling you casually?” Plagg asked pragmatically.

“What?” Adrien glanced up from tugging on his hair to focus on the tiny god.

“How do you know she was calling you casually?” Plagg repeated. “I mean, she could have been calling to talk business.”

“What kind of business requires a ten o’clock phone call on a school night?” Adrien demanded.

“How the hell would I know?” Plagg threw up his hands, rolling his eyes expressively. “Humans make no sense anyway. Maybe she wanted to talk about your face goop, or reschedule some picture taking, or ask about homework.”

Needless to say, Adrien didn’t sleep much. He was simultaneously exhausted and jumpy at school, unable to pay attention in classes but too antsy to sit still. 

“Oh my god, dude, did you drink a quad espresso again?” Nino asked, aghast.

“No.” Adrien snapped. “I just...didn’t sleep well. Nightmares.”

“And yet, you’re _wired._ ” Nino said dryly. “Good god man, calm down.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. 

“Tell you what.” Nino said. “Let’s go hit up the bakery for lunch, okay? Some nice, warm soup, a fresh baguette and something not-caffeinated to calm you the hell down. Like a moose tranquilizer.”

Adrien glared. “Jeez, thanks Nino.”

“I try.” Nino replied serenely. 

By the time the end of the day came, Adrien _had_ calmed down - he’d had no choice. Nobody could maintain that level of overwrought nervousness for so long, and Adrien had worn himself out sometime in the hour following lunch.

It didn’t hurt that he was tired of getting weird looks. Not that he wasn’t used to being looked at - it had happened a lot when he first started, and still occasionally happened when his akuma-absence excuses were particularly weak. But they’d largely tapered off in the year since he’d begun school, and he hadn’t realized how much he’d appreciated their absence until they were back. 

At least he was calm enough to go home, act normal, and maybe catch a nap before patrol tonight. 

...A patrol he sincerely hoped Ladybug didn’t skip. He wasn’t sure he would be able to hang on until the next patrol, or akuma, to confront her.

Of course, he also hoped that she wasn’t too upset with him. Or that she didn’t cry - he hated making his lady cry. Or that she didn’t go the other route and just shove him off the Eiffel Tower, or tie him up in her yo-yo string and leave him hanging from a light post.

Briefly, Adrien squinted at his phone and wondered if he could suggest meeting somewhere not the Tower, and with no handy light posts. He eventually discarded the idea - if she was really that upset, she’d find some other way to punish him, and probably more creatively if there wasn’t anything readily available to dangle him off of.

Eventually night fell and Adrien called for Plagg, making his way to their meeting spot torn between the certainty that he was going to die, the fear that she’d cry, and the almost giddy relief knowing that the whole panic-inducing situation was almost done with.

Ladybug was sitting on the edge of the observation platform, waiting serenely as she stared out over the Seine.

“Good evening, Ladybug.” Chat said pleasantly, trying to keep the anxiety from his voice and act casual, all the while still maintaining a safe distance. 

“Hello, _Adrien._ ” Ladybug replied pleasantly. 

_Aw, fuck._

“Ha. Haha...so that was you.” Chat rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

“That was me.” Ladybug confirmed.

“So, um...mind telling me how you got my phone number?” Chat asked nervously. “Because that was… yeah. Unexpected.”

“For both of us.” Ladybug said wryly. 

Chat decided it was safe enough to sit down nearby.

“I’m not going to bite.” Ladybug sounded amused.

“But you might push.” Chat muttered. Louder he said, “You’re handling this rather well.”

“Oh, I had all night to freak out about it.” Ladybug said. “I mean, I always thought we’d find out who each other was eventually, but this? Was not one of my anticipated scenarios.”

“Mine either.” Chat admitted. Of course, his preferred scenarios had always had a more... _romantic_ slant to them. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I know how much keeping our identities a secret meant to you.”

“Do you know who I am?” Ladybug asked, eyebrow raised inquisitively.

“Umm, no.” Chat shook his head. “You called me from your business phone. How did you have my number, anyway?”

“I programmed in the numbers of the people who have been targeted the most. And granted, it was more your _dad_ than you, but you’ve certainly had your fair share of akuma after you.”

“Oh.” Chat digested this fact, and decided not to mention how many times his partner had managed to walk in on him in the shower. “So...what did you want?”

“First, I want to know how the heck that situation even occurred.” Ladybug said.

Chat winced. “Right. So...have you ever seen my personal phone?”

“Umm.” Ladybug’s nose wrinkled as she tried to recall. “Kind of? I know what phone you had, like, last year, but I never really paid too much attention after that.”

“I got a new one this year.” Chat said. “It just so happens to be the same one the Mayor got us.”

“And you programmed my business number into it?” The question was more rhetorical than anything, but Chat could tell his partner was displeased.

“Yeah. I never imagined you’d actually _call me._ ” Chat shrugged. “But, anyway, I wasn’t paying attention to which phone I grabbed, all I saw was your number, so I answered.”

“As Chat Noir.”

“As Chat Noir.” Chat sighed. 

Ladybug eyed him. “I had all night to plan what I was going to do, you know.” She said levelly. 

“Which is…?” Chat asked leadingly. “I mean, I was really expecting screaming. Or crying. And maybe to be dangled from a light post.”

“None of those are off the table entirely.” Ladybug said thoughtfully. “But you looked like a mess today, so I kind of figured I’d take it easy on you.”

“Wait, you saw me today?” Chat stared at her. “You were watching me?”

Ladybug smirked. Chat felt a fissure of fear skate down his spine. “Bug. Please. You love me, remember?”

“Oh, I do.” Ladybug nodded. “I absolutely do. Which is why you’re not dangling from a light post somewhere. So I propose a game.”

“A...game.” Chat said dubiously.

“Yep. I officially give you permission to try to discover who I am. My only rule is that you cannot just follow me home.” Ladybug said. “You’re going to have to ferret the information out honestly, no blatant cheating.”

Chat’s head tilted with interest. “You’re a devious little bug.”

And she was: Ladybug fully realized that there would be an imbalance between them if she knew his civilian identity, but he was still denied knowledge of hers. And that, going forward, her continued refusal to reveal herself would be less acceptable (no matter how valid her reasons), would lead to bitterness and affect their teamwork.

“What do I get if I win?” Chat asked.

“Hmm?” Ladybug was drawn out of her reverie to refocus on his face.

“If I win, what do I get?” Chat repeated.

“Knowing who I am isn’t reward enough?” Ladybug raised a brow imperiously.

“Cute, but no.” Chat regarded her in amusement. “You’re going to tell me anyway, but you’re making me work for it because you’re annoyed.”

“And I know you like to play.” Ladybug murmured.

“True.” Chat nodded. “But you’re still irritated with the situation - which was completely random, we couldn’t really have prepared for that. And-” He held up a finger as she opened her mouth to speak, “even If I hadn’t put your number in my phone, I still have it memorized; I would have recognized it.”

Ladybug’s mouth shut. “You are good with numbers, aren’t you?” She muttered under her breath.

“Very. But you already knew that.” Chat replied evenly. “So, I’ll ask again: what’s the prize?”

“You’re pushing here, _mon minou._ ” Ladybug said, but she seemed more intrigued than annoyed, so Chat forged ahead.

“I am. You’re stalling, my lady.” His teeth flashed in the darkness.

Ladybug was silent for a while, and Chat let her think in peace. 

“Very well.” She said at last. “I’ll tell you what: figure me out in two weeks or less, and I’ll give you a kiss.”

“Excuse me?” Chat’s eyebrows shot up - that was _not_ what he had been expecting her to say.

“You heard me, _Chaton._ ” Ladybug leaned forward and smirked. “If you can figure out who I am in the next two weeks, and you still want a kiss after you know who I am, I’ll kiss you.”

“Well then.” Chat picked up her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles. “With motivation like that, how can I lose?”


	27. Favorite Things (be my friend?)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 25: Favorite Things  
> Follow-on work to chapter 22 (prompt 20: Caught)
> 
> Marichat Friendship

“Good afternoon.” Chat said genially as he stepped onto her balcony.

“And to you as well, Chat.” Marinette said, glancing up from her knitting. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Ah, yeah. I’ve been…” Chat trailed off, and rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. He didn’t want to _lie_ to Marinette, but the truth was equally uncomfortable. 

Why were relationships so hard? He groused to himself mentally. If this were one of his father’s associates, or Chloe, or any other professional-Adrien situation, he undoubtedly would have a ready-made falsehood on his lips and thought nothing of it. But this wasn’t any of those situations, even if as Chat he was supposed to be a professional superhero - this was _Marinette,_ whom he wanted to know on a personal level. 

What level, exactly, was still up in the air. But after four weeks, three weeks after Alya had cornered him in the schoolyard, he really felt he owed her _some_ kind of explanation for his continued absence, even if his presence hadn’t been especially regular to begin with.

“Busy?” Marinette said dryly, pulling Chat from internal musings. 

“Yeah- I mean, no. But yes. Just-” Chat dropped his hand to his side and broke off with a sigh. “Can I sit down?”

Marinette paused, looking up at him incredulously. “Are you actually asking me that? What is going on with you?”

Chat shifted uncomfortably. Marinette frowned, foot lashing out to hook around the patio chair across the table and shoe it in his direction. Taking the hint, Chat dragged it closer and dropped into it.

“Water?” Marinette indicated a water bottle on the table with her chin. “I don’t backwash, promise, but if you wait a moment, I can run and grab you a cup.”

“Oh, no. Don’t trouble yourself on my account.”

They sat in silence for a few moments before Marinette huffed and reached down into the basket at her feet. Picking up a roll of yarn, she shoved it into his lap. “Hold this.”

“And...do what?” Chat poked at the bright red yarn curiously.

“Feed it out to me. Don’t let it get tangled.” Marinette replied, needles already working again.

“What are you working on?” Chat asked, idly unravelling the yarn as she knitted. He wound a length up around his pinkie, watching the loops slide off of it like a spindle as she worked.

“A sweater for Alya.” Marinette replied.

“But...it’s June.” Chat said in confusion.

Marinette hummed softly. “But if I start now, then I won’t be in a rush later.”

They were silent for a while, only murmured instructions and the soft clicking of Marinette’s knitting needles bumping together between them. It was a fairly busy night, but it was Paris - it was never totally silent. Chat sat, watching Marinette work, listening to voices on the street and the sounds of cars going by, and unravelling or handing different yarns to her as she asked.

“So,” Marinette glanced up at him, a small smile tugging on the corner of her lips, “have you calmed down yet?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chat huffed, ears flicking back in embarrassment. 

“Mmhm. But when you arrived, you were worked up over something. Care to share, now?”

Chat scuffed the toe of his boot on the ground and debated what he could, or should, say. Honestly, he was no closer to an answer than he _had_ been, but he couldn’t keep avoiding her.

“Don’t lie to me.”

“What?” Chat glanced up in confusion.

“I said, ‘don’t lie to me.’” Marinette repeated patiently, needles still _clack-clack_ ing as she worked. “I’ll know. And I will stab you with a knitting needle, so help me. You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong, but if you do, be honest.”

She really knew him too well, didn’t she? Chat groaned and let his head drop back against the chair. And yet, she didn’t know him at all...and therein lay the problem. And...he didn’t really know _her_ either, not as Adrien. He only knew her as Chat Noir.

Alya’s words, about not leading her on, still rang in his head, even three weeks later. Was he leading her on? Could he be? He didn’t think he was, and Marinette didn’t really seem to read anything into his flirtatious behavior, but what if she did? Nino teased him about it, and Alya seemed to think something of it. Maybe this was just one of those connections he was missing by not having been around other teenagers a lot. 

“Do I flirt too much?” He blurted out, head still tilted back as he stared at the late afternoon sky.

The _clack-clack_ ing paused. “What?”

“Do I flirt too much?” Chat repeated, fingers tangling into the ball of yarn on his lap nervously.

“Hmm.” The needles resumed as Marinette considered his question. “I suppose you could take it down a notch or two, and the puns get a little out of control, but that also seems like it’s just...part of your personality, you know? It’s _you._ Why do you ask?”

“Something that was pointed out to me recently.” Chat mumbled, then raised his head to peer at her nervously. “Can...can I confess something to you here? Between us?”

“Hmm.” Marinette squinted at her yarn briefly. “Does it involve an illegal activity?”

“No?” Chat’s brow furrowed.

“Is someone in danger of being hurt?”

“Not...physically…” Chat wondered where she was going with this.

“Are you suicidal?” Marinette looked him dead in the eye, and Chat’s mouth dropped open in shock.

_”What?_ No!” Chat spluttered.

“Just covering my bases.” Marinette leaned back in her chair. “Then yes, whatever you say can stay between us. Promise.”

“I’m a little scared now.” Chat muttered, still eyeing the girl across from him.

“I still have my knitting needles, and you’re slacking on your yarn duties.” Marinette glanced at the taunt red string between them. “So spill your guts, know that I’ll take you seriously this time, and unravel some more yarn, or _don’t_ spill your guts, but unravel some more yarn. Either way.”

“You’re mean.” Chat pouted.

“I’ll show you mean if you don’t give me some more slack.” Marinette said cheerfully. “Now, why are you asking if you flirt too much?”

“Because I don’t know.” Chat replied, obligingly rolling some more yarn to hang between them. “Most of my life, before this, was pretty isolated. My social encounters were not...on the average end of the spectrum.”

“Well...like I said,” Marinette mused, “you could tone it down, but you’re not _really_ over the top unless you’re nervous. When you’re nervous, or worried, you get wound up and start, like, reflex-flirting. Not that you’re not a gigantic flirt the rest of the time too, but you get crazy when you’re nervous.”

Chat frowned as he considered her words.

“But, like I said, that’s _you._ ” Marinette continued. “When I get nervous, I make up terrible, worst-case scenarios and babble. Alya bites her fingernails and starts compulsively problem-solving, or psychoanalyzing random people. My friend Nino starts humming obnoxiously...and let me tell you, that gets annoying in class.”

“So are you saying I’m normal? Or that all your friends are weirdos?” Chat asked dryly.

“Both.” Marinette grinned. “Everyone has a different way of dealing with stress. You happen to have a lot of stress...and I think you kind of work yourself up, too. So, yes, you flirt. A lot. But it’s how you deal...even if I don’t know what you’re nervous about half the time.”

“I don’t know how to talk to people.” Chat blurted out, then winced at his own honesty. “And I didn’t know that I didn’t know until I was suddenly in the middle of a bunch of teenagers and couldn’t relate to them at _all_ on a social level, because I was so used to dealing with adults on a strictly professional, don’t-screw-this-up level.”

Marinette stared at him. Chat fidgeted, wondering if he’d given her too much personal information. 

“Well.” She said finally. “That puts a different spin on things.” She glanced up at the sky, frowning, before she took the yarn from his hands and, setting her project carefully into the basket, stood. Bending over, she picked up the basket and gestured to her house with her chin. “Come on, Chat.”

“Where are we going?” Chat’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Inside. It’s getting dark.” Marinette set her basket down by the ledge before climbing down into her skylight. Chat handed her the basket once she was on her bed, and dropped in after her once she’d stepped off of it. 

He followed her down the stairs to her main room, surprised when she set her basket down and opened the door leading down to the main house. 

“Where are we going?” He asked as she gestured for him to follow her down the stairs. 

“Therapy cookies.” Marinette replied, rounding the corner and into her kitchen. “Mom and dad are on a date tonight, so we’ve got the whole house. And, in my experience, heavy conversation _always_ goes easier if you’ve got something to do with your hands. 

“Besides,” She threw a teasing grin over her shoulder at him as she started collecting ingredients, “I’ve seen you try to stay still. It doesn’t usually work.”

Chat shrugged. As Adrien, he had to be still a lot - it was just part and parcel with being a model, and fidgeting was unbecoming behavior for an Agreste.

Kind of like flirting, Chat thought wryly. Adrien Agreste was absolutely _not_ permitted to flirt with girls. That behavior was, again, not in keeping with the image his father insisted upon. Neither was being loud. Or teasing, or joking, or talking back.

Adrien was really glad that his father had no say over how _Chat Noir_ behaved.

“So you’re not sure how to talk to normal people.” Marinette said, handing Chat a sifter and dumping flour into it to let him sift it into a bowl.

“Yeah.” Chat sighed. “So flirting kind of seemed to be...a default? I don’t know, I only had one friend, and I didn’t realize how much _she_ flirted with me until I was in school.”

“And before that, all of your social interactions were…”

“Carefully monitored and professional behavior only.” Chat replied. “Even during sports, I was usually watched by someone to make sure I was well-behaved.”

“Good grief.” Marinette added the baking soda and salt, then handed him a spoon to stir with. “No wonder you act like a nut as Chat Noir, it’s probably your only release valve. So, how does this tie into what kept you away from me for a month?”

“Well,” Chat was handed a bowl with melted butter, vanilla and eggs in, along with a whisk. Taking his hint, he carefully mixed them together as Marinette slowly added sugar. “It was recently pointed out to me that… I might be… ah.”

“Don’t stop now.” Marinette tapped in the last of the sugar and traded his whisk for a spoon.

“Leading you on.” Chat mumbled.

“What?” Marinette’s nose scrunched up in confusion. 

“Leading you on.” Chat repeated a little louder.

“....What?” Marinette looked at him, seemingly baffled. 

Chat swallowed. Was she confused because she _did_ like him, and thought he was flirting with her to show her that? Was she confused because she thought _he_ liked her, romantically, and now it seemed like he didn’t? Or was she just confused in general?

And… Chat’s eyes widened as his doubts came rushing back. _Did_ he like her, and he just didn’t know it? He _thought_ he loved Ladybug, but she was pretty strict on keeping personal information to themselves. Maybe he just might like Marinette because she reminded him of a more relaxed version of Ladybug? Or did he like her because she was Marinette, and Adrien also thought she was nice, but she didn’t seem too keen on Adrien, so Adrien wanted to get to know her as Chat, because she was okay with Chat? 

And did he _like_ like her, or just like her as a friend? And if he did, what about Ladybug? And if he didn’t then-?

It was all just too confusing. Chat stirred the cookie dough mixture furiously, startled when Marinette reached out and grabbed his wrist.

“Calm down, you’re going to make a mess.” Marinette said, and Chat winced when he realized that he was nearly shoving dough over the edge of the bowl.

“Sorry.” He muttered, and wasn’t sure what all he was apologizing for.

“It’s fine. But who told you that you were leading me on?” Marinette asked.

Nino had been teasing the hell out of him, but Chat couldn’t really own up to that. Alya, however…

“You have very protective friends.” Chat murmured noncommittally. “And at least one of them knows that I stop by occasionally.”

“Alya.” Marinette hissed, taking the bowl from him and dumping in the dry ingredients before stirring it aggressively. “I’m going to kill her.”

“She didn’t out-and-out _say_ anything,” Chat added, tapping a clawed finger tip against the counter pensively. “Just that it would be mean of me to lead you on. I understood the implications better later, when I had time to mentally review what all she’d said.”

Marinette huffed. “Meddler.”

“She is, but she has good intentions.” Chat agreed. “She wants you happy, and safe, and she’s reminding me not to be a threat to that.”

“She and I talked.” Marinette admitted slowly. “We even talked about your flirting, though she was sworn to silence on the conversation. I was worried about it appearing online, not her coming after you to play my guard dog.”

Chat shrugged. Marinette stabbed the spoon into the bowl and turned to him with a frown.

“Okay, I’m going to ask you something, and I really need you to be honest with me.” She said bluntly.

Chat chewed his lip nervously, but nodded.

“Do you like me?” Marinette asked.

“I… I don’t _know._ ” Chat said nervously. “I like talking with you, and hanging out with you, and I like thinking that we’re friends. But what if I do like you, and I just don’t _know_ it yet? I mean, I think I love Ladybug, but she keeps me at a distance, and you kind of remind me of her, just...not as distant? Like, you’re not her, obviously, but the things I admire in her I see in you, too.

“And apparently I _am_ a flirt, so what if I like you because you remind me of Ladybug and I just _think_ I like you because you’re Marinette and Marinette is fun, too? What if you like me, and you think I’m trying to...I don’t know.” Chat gestured towards her helplessly, wishing his mouth would stop moving without his permission. But it was like a dam had broken, and every pent-up insecurity and second-guessed thought was pouring out of him. “And I hurt you, because I want to be your friend and you want something else? Or it get awkward and then you don’t want to be _my_ friend, because I led you on and I didn’t know I was leading you on?”

Marinette gaped at him, wide-eyed, then slapped a hand over his mouth. Chat started, jaw closing automatically behind her cupped palm.

“Okay. Wow. That’s a lot.” Marinette said faintly. “I’m not really sure where to start.”

“Me neither.” Chat mumbled miserably behind her palm.

Marinette snorted out a laugh. “I’d say let’s start with cookies. Grab the tray behind you.”

Chat turned to do her bidding, taking the proffered scooper and handing her the second tray. They spent a few minutes distracting themselves, Marinette guiding him and murmuring instructions on how to make sure the dough balls were mostly the same size, and evenly spaced. 

Finally, the sheets were in the oven and the timer set. Marinette turned, grabbing a few glasses out of a nearby cupboard and filling them with water before she sat at the table. Chat took the hint when she sat one across from herself and pulled out the chair to sit in.

“So, first, let me say that I’m glad I remind you of Ladybug and you like being friends with me.” Marinette said, smiling at him. “That’s sweet.”

Chat offered a small smile back, turning his water glass idly.

“Second,” Marinette continued, “let me absolve you of some Alya-induced guilt here: you’re not leading me on. I don’t think you see me that way, and I have another person that I like romantically.”

“You do?” Chat’s eyebrows rose with interest. “Who is it?”

“Ah,” Marinette’s cheeks flushed in a way Adrien was familiar with. “Just...a boy in my class. Don’t worry about it. Point is, I’m not interested in you like that.”

“So...we’re friends?” Chat asked nervously. 

“I’d like that.” Marinette nodded. “I like you, as a friend. I like _being_ your friend. I don’t care about the flirting - I know it isn’t personal, just part of your personality. If you’re coming on too strong, or going too far, I’ll let you know, but otherwise, you’re fine. I like you because you’re _you._ ”

“That’s good to know.” Chat smiled wider now. “Because...I do like you. As a friend. I’d like to be your friend as a civilian too, but I’m not really sure how to approach you without giving myself away. But, this? Being here, and sitting and talking, and watching you sew or making cookies and just, you know, _being_ with you? It’s one of my favorite things. I like relaxing with you, and I don’t want anything to mess that up. Especially me.”

“Awww.” Marinette’s eyes softened, and she reached over to give his hand a squeeze. “Silly kitty - it’s one of my favorite things too.”

Chat relaxed. “Thanks, Marinette. For letting me talk, and helping. You’re the best.”

Marinette grinned at him. “Of course. That’s what friends are for.”

Friends. Somehow, Chat really liked the sound of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Adrien. Much like Corona, he just doesn't know how to deal with this. 
> 
> So this wound up being not as humorous as I'd originally intended. I'd intended for Adrien to stutter and stammer and Marinette to tease him and then...well, you know. Hugs and rainbows and other fluffy things. However, what Alya had intended as a lowkey threat Adrien took and, combined with Nino's teasing about being "68 kilos of fan service", worked himself up into a high-strung ball of anxiety that he needed to work through before cookies and friendship feels could happen.


	28. Umbrella (pt1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 26: Umbrella

Chat was huddled under an overhang when she found him. 

“What are you doing out here, Kitty Cat?” Ladybug asked, amused.

“Patrol day.” Chat shrugged, stepping to the side to let her squeeze under the overhang next to him, lowering her umbrella and closing it with a _snap._

“Because we can totally patrol in this.” Ladybug stuck her hand out, watching raindrops pelt her gloved hand.

“It was only sprinkling when I left.” Chat said. “Why are you out here?”

“I tried to call you, but you didn’t pick up.” Ladybug replied. “So I grabbed an umbrella.”

“Aw, Bugaboo, are you saying that you missed me?” Chat grinned.

“Don’t get any crazy ideas.” Ladybug replied, but she was smiling. 

“I’m _fur_ lattered.” Chat continued. 

“I _was_ thinking we could go get a coffee.” Ladybug drawled, “but if you’re just going to spout puns at me, I think I’ll leave you here in the down pour.”

Chat cocked his head curiously. “Where at?”

“A bakery I know, actually.” Ladybug said. “They recently branched out and have a small cafe going now, but they do coffee too.”

“Well, in that case,” Chat replied, “lead on, my lady.”

The two of them descended to ground level so they could walk along the sidewalk, huddled under the umbrella as they went. Though they garnered a lot of strange looks, Chat had a heady moment imagining that the two of them were simply strolling down the sidewalk in the rain, sharing an umbrella like any _normal_ couple. 

They chatted easily, shoulders occasionally bumping or fingers brushing, until Ladybug stopped, humming as she looked up. “Here.”

Chat blinked. _Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Pâtisserie._

Bemused, he followed Ladybug inside and up to the counter. 

“Ladybug! Chat Noir!” Sabine Chang blinked at them in astonishment. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, madame.” Ladybug replied, smiling. “Chat Noir and I were supposed to patrol today, but with the rain we thought maybe a coffee would be better instead. I heard you recently started serving them?”

“We did; just last week in fact.” Sabine nodded. “What would you two like?”

“A latte for me, please.” Ladybug turned to her partner. “You?”

“Americano for me, please.” Chat replied, still feeling a little out-of-sorts, standing in his schoolmate’s bakery in a superhero outfit, ordering coffee with Ladybug. Ladybug opened her yo-yo, pulling out a few bills from inside, but Madam Cheng shot her a _look_ , and Chat was torn between giggling and cringing. Only years of holding his expression let him keep his face neutral.

“Your money is not welcome here.” Sabine sniffed. 

“But, Madame-” Ladybug protested, hand hovering uncertainly.

“I’ll not hear it.” Sabine said firmly, taking the cups her husband handed her and setting them on a tray.

“Best not argue with her.” Tom advised, setting a few small tea cakes on a plate and placing them on the tray as well. “It never ends well.”

Ladybug opened her mouth, then closed it on a sigh. “Thank you, Madame. You’re very gracious.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it, child.” Sabine beamed, then winked. “Besides, the publicity of your two eating here is sure to bring in more business than a few coffees could possibly cost.”

“In that case,” Chat smiled, “I’m glad we could help.” Picking up the tray, he led Ladybug over to a small table situated in front of the window.

“Relax, LB.” He said, picking up his coffee and sipping. 

“I just don’t like hand outs.” Ladybug said quietly. 

“I know.” Chat nodded. “But it’s something you need to learn to roll with. The Dupain-Cheng’s are good people.”

Ladybug looked at him oddly. “Do you know them?”

“I’ve been in here a few times myself - though not since the cafe opened.” Chat admitted. “They’re always kind.”

“They are.” Ladybug said. “I actually live near here. I like to stop for breakfast, if I have time.”

Chat blinked, surprised at the admission even as his mind whirled with the implications. Ladybug lived near here? Could they have been in here at the same time? Did they know each other socially? Did she go to his school?

Though, if she did, Chat rather thought she must be in one of the other classes. Or perhaps she went to another nearby school.

“Wouldn’t it be wild if we’d passed each other in here, then?” Chat mused.

“Yeah. Insane.” Ladybug laughed uneasily, then directed his attention to the petit fours on the plate. 

By the time they’d finished their snacks, they’d signed six autographs, had numerous pictures taken, and been gawked at by people walking past repeatedly. Chat was more than used to this as Adrien, but Ladybug was visibly uncomfortable with the scrutiny.

Finally, Chat picked up their tray, placing the dirty dishes on it and returning it to the counter. He turned to find Ladybug already standing near the door, umbrella in hand as she waited for him. A glint on the bottom of the handle caught his eye, but Ladybug’s voice distracted him.

“Ready, Chaton?” She asked, smiling.

“As always.” Chat replied, holding the door open for her. “After you, my lady.”

Stepping outside, Ladybug flicked the umbrella open, the surprised him by turning and handing it to him.

“My lady?” He asked, eyebrows raised curiously.

“You take it.” Ladybug smiled. “I live nearby.”

Chat frowned. “I don’t want you getting wet on the way home because you gave me your umbrella, Ladybug.”

“It’s not technically my umbrella.” Ladybug shrugged. “A friend gave it to me last year to use, and I never managed to return it.”

“Shouldn’t you do that, then?” Chat frowned.

“Nah, I think he’d be okay with you having it.” Ladybug mused. “Besides, that’s not really an umbrella.”

“It’s...not?” Chat looked at the umbrella curiously. “And yet, it keeps the rain off of me.”

“It only looks like an umbrella - it’s actually a booby trap.” Ladybug nodded. “I’m not sure why it hasn’t snapped closed on me yet today. I mean to grab another one, but…” She shrugged. “Oh well.”

“So you gave me the trick umbrella?” Chat grinned. “Don’t you know I’m the avatar of misfortune? I’ll probably get struck by lightning.”

“But if I didn’t, you’d probably catch pneumonia.” Ladybug argued.

“And you’re sure you don’t want to return it to your friend?” Chat pressed. “Or, you know, use it yourself?”

“Positive.” Ladybug said firmly. “And if you want to fight me further, I’ll beat you with it.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Chat paused, weighed the umbrella contemplatively, then grinned. “So… does this count as our first date?”

_”What?”_ Ladybug gaped at him. “No!”

“But, my lady,” Chat cajoled, “you asked me out to coffee, tried to pay, and are now chivalrously giving me your umbrella to protect me on my way home.”

“That…” Ladybug gaped. “Is _so_ backwards. It wasn’t a date - you’d have to ask me out, for one. And there’s no goodnight kiss, for another.”

“I’ve asked you out at least twenty times.” Chat rebutted. “And you’ve turned me down flat each time.”

“You...what?” Ladybug’s face screwed up. “You were serious?”

“Meowch.” Chat said it with a smile, but his voice was sardonic. “I guess when we have our first dance, I’ll have to let you lead.”

Ladybug’s mouth fell open. Taking advantage of her shock, Chat snatched up her hand and pressed a kiss to her gloved knuckles. “And...there’s the kiss. Thanks for the date, my lady!” 

He took off running, grinning as Ladybug screeched indignantly behind him.


	29. Profound (Umbrella pt2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 27: Profound Confessions
> 
> Direct follow-on to yesterday's prompt (Umbrella). Featuring an intelligent, analytical Adrien, a somewhat-helpful Plagg, and a whole lot of introspection.

Chat slipped into the window, holding the umbrella gingerly as he took it to the bathroom. 

“Plagg, claws in.” He called, striding over to gently shake the umbrella over the tub.

It was the action of flipping the umbrella over that had his movements stalling out. Electric green sparks were only vaguely registered as Plagg disengaged, reforming to hover near his shoulder.

“See? I told you Ladybug wouldn’t want to patrol in the rain!” Plagg complained, oblivious to his wielder's shock. “Who the hell would want to do that, anyway? Maybe Ladybug really _is_ the brains of the oper- Kid?”

Adrien was still staring at the umbrella dumbly.

“Kid? What the hell?” Plagg zipped down to hover directly in front of Adrien’s face, frowning.

Adrien made a distracted humming noise, giving the umbrella a slightly firmer shake before carrying it over to the counter. He set it down carefully, bracing himself against the cool marble as he stared down at the umbrella thoughtfully.

“Plagg. Come here.”

To confused and interested to argue, the kwami drifted closer, eyeing Adrien interestedly. “What? Gonna have a fit because Ladybug gave you a gift?”

Adrien lifted the handle of the umbrella, showing Plagg what he had been staring at: embossed on the bottom in shiny gold foil and elaborate script font were the letters AA. 

“This is my umbrella.” He told Plagg. The kwami frowned, and Adrien mistook thoughtfulness for confusion and began to elaborate. “It’s a Gabriel brand umbrella, but whenever Father gives me one, instead of having the G put on the bottom, he has AA placed there instead. He’s done it since I was little - I’d completely forgotten.”

“And it’s not like you have a shortage of umbrellas.” Plagg muttered.

“True enough.” Adrien snorted. “Letting Mar- _Marinette_ have one wasn’t really an issue. I didn’t even think about my initials being on it.”

“I bet she didn’t, either.” Plagg said. “Or she might not have handed it back to you.”

Adrien huffed out a breath. “To be honest, if I were anyone else but, well, _me_ , I probably wouldn't have noticed. I mean, AA could be somebody else’s initials, or another logo, or any number of things.”

“So you’re sure it’s yours?” The question was purely rhetorical: Plagg knew as well as Adrien did that he was right.

“Oh yeah.” Adrien huffed out a sigh. “I guess bug’s luck finally ran out - this is literally the most random thing.”

“It was a long shot for sure.” Plagg allowed, drifting down to alight on the counter next to Adrien’s hand. “Why aren’t you upset? Not that I’m complaining, but I kind of thought you’d be freaking out about now.”

“Plagg, the tiny god of destruction and cheese, _not_ complaining?” Adrien chuckled and scooped Plagg up, turning and leaving the umbrella on the counter as he strode back into his bedroom. “Who are you really?”

“I know, right?” Plagg yawned, revealing tiny pointed teeth. “But now I want cheese. Feed me, slave.”

“As my master commands.” Adrien rolled his eyes as he made his way to the mini fridge to retrieve a wheel of Plagg’s preferred cheese. He unwrapped it and set it on the coffee table before flopping back onto his couch with a sigh.

“The real question is - what are you gonna do now that you know?” Plagg asked between bites.

Adrien grimaced, eyeing a throw pillow before he grabbed it and wedged it against the arm of the couch. Laying back, he closed his eyes.

“I’m...not sure.” He admitted. “I mean, it basically boils down to two options: tell her, or don’t. But I would like to state, for the record, that it is bloody _hilarious_ , in a facepalm kind of way, that she turns down Chat Noir constantly, but then has a crush on Adrien.”

“A...what?” Plagg squinted at him. “She wants to crush you?”

“Doofus.” Adrien said fondly. “You know what I mean.”

“Kind of?” Plagg hefted a bit of cheese. “Slang changes so often that I have a hard time keeping up with all the words that don’t mean what the actually mean.”

Adrien paused. “...I find it disturbing that I understood that sentence. Clearly, you’ve dragged me down into your pit of insanity.”

“‘Bout time, too.” Plagg sniffed, shoving cheese in his mouth. “It’s a great place. Sarcasm and naps as far as the eye can see. And cheese.”

“So, when I say ‘crush,’” Adrien continued with an eye roll, “what I mean is that she likes me in a romantic sense. So she turns Chat down constantly, but would love to date Adrien.”

“...So you know about that, then.” Plagg hummed. “I wasn’t sure.”

“Do I look stupid to you? No, don’t answer that.” Adrien said. “Yes, I know she has a crush on me. Not to sound conceited-”

“-Which means you’re definitely about to sound conceited.” Plagg muttered, rolling his eyes.

“-But I kind of have a fanbase. Like, lots of fans. Most of them teenage girls, and even if I’m sheltered from a lot of it, I’ve still had to deal with fan girls before.” Adrien continued. “So, yes, I know she has a crush on me. But she doesn’t actually know _me,_ just the image and what she’s seen casually at school.”

“Have you ever considered just telling her you’re not interested?” Plagg deadpanned. “Except, oh wait, _you are._ ”

“I’m interested in _Ladybug._ ” Adrien corrected. 

“And you didn’t really know Ladybug, either, but still act like a lovestruck fool in front of her.” Plagg pointed out mercilessly. “And you act completely different as Chat than you do as Adrien, so why can’t she?”

“Maybe, but what I like about Ladybug is that she’s strong and smart and brave.”  Adrien replied. “She’s compassionate and kind, and has an awesome sense of humor. Ladybug isn’t intimidated by anyone.”

“So, maybe you don’t like Ladybug as much as you thought.” Plagg’s voice was disinterested; the vocal equivalent of a shrug. 

“No, I’ve seen pieces of that in Marinette too, when she forgets to be shy and weird.” Adrien frowned. “And I’d like to get to know _that_ Marinette. And Nino is interested in Alya, who is Marinette’s best friend. If those two ever get their act together, Marinette and I are going to be around each other a lot - I’d rather not have it be more awkward than it needs to be, you know?”

“So you’re trying to...what? Ignore the problem and hope it goes away?” Plagg snorted. “How’s that working for you?”

Adrien glared at the kwami, who didn’t even have his eyes open to appreciate it, and considered shoving him off the back of the couch. He might have, too, if he didn’t know Plagg would retaliate in some horrible, embarrassing way later. Or bite him - that was never fun either.

“Clearly, it’s not.” Adrien frowned. “But it’s the best answer I’ve had so far.”

“Your answer sucks.” Plagg stated. “And it doesn’t answer the original question - are you going to tell her you know who she is, or aren’t you?”

Adrien sighed. “I’m still...thinking on it. Tell me about other wielders - have they known each other? How did it turn out?”

“What, you want a monologue on the various ways they screwed up, so you can avoid them?” Plagg started sarcastically.

“Um, yes.” Adrien said after a pause. “That’s exactly what I want.”

“Too bad.” Plagg sniffed. “Make your own mistakes.”

Pursing his lips, Adrien reached up and poked the kwami. Receiving no response, he poked him again. And again. Then he started flicking him - lightly, but he knew it was annoying.

“Tell me.” He demanded.

No response. Adrien flicked harder. _”Tell me.”_

“Promise me cheese.” Plagg grunted. 

“You always get cheese.” Adrien pointed out. “Like, all the time.”

“I said ‘promise me cheese.’” Plagg snapped, batting at Adrien’s finger, which had resumed poking his side.

“I’ll give you cheese~” Adrien said in a sing song voice. “Lots of yummy cheese~”

“Some knew, some didn’t.” Plagg said. “Sometimes it worked out better, and others it didn’t. There’s not really a rhyme or reason, it’s just different personalities. The deciding factor here is _which_ looming evil you’re facing - it’s damn difficult to locate and akumatize other Miraculous holders, especially without their consent.”

“-Their _consent?_ ” Adrien blurted.

“Yes.” Plagg cracked open an eye to regard Adrien lazily. “The butterfly Miraculous is a defense-centric one. It stays largely clear of a fight, but it can select _Champions_ and imbue them with special abilities for a short time. That’s Nooroo’s skill. 

“So when the wielder isn’t an ego-centric asshat on a power trip, other Miraculous wielders have _consented_ to become Champions when their kwami was unavailable for whatever reason.”

“Huh.” Adrien mulled that over. “That’s really interesting, actually.”

“Yeah, but the side effect is that he can get in your head.” Plagg said. “If a bunch of people knew you were Chat Noir, it might make your life easier for a time, but if one of them gets tagged, your secret is out. Which is why Tikki has been holding the screws to Marinette about secrecy.”

_”Tikki_ is putting the screws to Marinette.” Adrien’s eyes narrowed as he studied the little god intently. “Not ‘we’, not ‘us’, _Tikki._ Are you saying you don’t agree?”

“You are seriously overestimating my ‘give a damn’ here, Kid.” Plagg sniffed. “Ultimately I think that if you know the risks and make your own choices, then you can live with your own decisions...but you’d better have a damn good bolt hole to crawl into if you do.”

“So...it’s not so much about _us_ not knowing, it’s about _others._ ” Adrien ran his tongue over his teeth thoughtfully as he considered this tidbit.

“Nooroo _can_ tag you.” Plagg reiterated. “It’s difficult, but it can be done.”

“And if we knew each other’s names, we might accidentally yell them in the middle of a fight and expose ourselves.” Adrien mused. “So forcing us to secrecy, at least for a while, helps condition us to using...code names, essentially, while we’re in the suit.”

Plagg said nothing, merely rolling over with a sigh. Which, knowing him, was as close to a “Good job, Kid.” as the little turd would ever get, Adrien thought wryly. It also signaled that he was officially done with humoring his Chosen.

“Well then,” Adrien said into the silence, “I guess that’s that, then.”  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

The next day at school was a special form of hell. Years of emoting on command for cameras and performing for a demanding and disinterested parent had granted Adrien the ability to act as if things were fine when they really weren’t.

And even if his world had tilted on it’s axis, nothing had really _changed._ His mother was still gone and his father was still cold and distant. Alya was still bold and bossy, Marinette was still shy and awkward, and Chloe was still bitter and spiteful. Nino was perceptive and respectful; he knew something was up, but after a few “Are you okay?” type questions, he seemed content to leave well enough alone until Adrien decided to approach him.  Nino was seriously the best.

No, the only thing that had changed was him. Adrien took every opportunity to study Marinette furtively; the way she looked, acted, spoke when she didn’t know his eyes were on her. And now that he knew, now that he _saw,_ he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t drawn the connections before now.

“Nothing’s changed.” He hissed to Plagg during a break between classes, phone to his ear so he didn’t seem too suspicious. “Literally, it’s Marinette wearing a different outfit and a domino mask. How the _hell_ did I not see this sooner?”

“Magic.” Plagg yawned, lounging on the shoulder snugged into his open locker. “Literally, magic. Do you really think that diny mask _disguises_ you? It doesn’t change you face, voice, hair or body, and your stupid face is on a third of the billboards in this city. If you made a Chat Noir suit and wore it to school, you’d be recognized as Adrien in two seconds flat. So why has nobody drawn the line between you and Chat Noir?”

Adrien scowled. He’d _asked_ the itty bitty troll these questions before, and the little brat had never, not _once,_ answered him. Adrien kind of wanted to call him out on it, but he also didn’t want the information to stop - not when he was finally getting answers to questions he’d been asking for a year. 

Plagg probably knew it, too, Adrien thought, glancing at the lounging little beast out of the corner of his eye, only to find Plagg eyeing him in return. 

“Seriously? _Magic._ ” The scientist in him was absolutely appalled; the romantic in him was positively enchanted. Adrien just wanted to beat his head against something.

“Ma-gic.” Plagg enunciated the word slowly. “You know, the only other explanation for how a tiny god flies into a ring and turns you into a superhero, who can legitimately ‘leap tall buildings in a single bound’? You weren’t secretly born on Krypton, pal.”

The warning bell rang, and Adrien rolled his eyes as Plagg rolled off of his shoulder and into the book bag sitting open in the bottom of the locker.

“And he says he knows nothing about popular culture.” Adrien muttered, slinging the bag over his shoulder and purposefully bumping it against his hip as he turned to make his way back to class.

Adrien took the rest of the day to watch Marinette, and reaffirm his decision to tell her that he knew who she was. It wasn’t hard, really; when Marinette didn’t know he was watching, her naturally charming and witty personality reasserted itself. 

_This_ was the person he wanted to know, Adrien thought fondly. The Ladybug who tripped over nothing and loved to design. The one who doodled on her school notes and picked the onions out of her sandwich. The one who listened to music with Nino and giggled with Alya.

She was a relaxed, more _human_ version of her alter ego, and even if Adrien fancied himself in love with Ladybug, he desperately wanted to be friends with Marinette, and be a part of the circle of warmth.

Adrien tried to behave normally. He didn’t have a photo shoot or a fitting scheduled, and his Father was out of town, so Nathalie had left his schedule clear with only instructions to “be home by dinnertime and call if he needed a ride.” So Adrien and Nino wound up at Nino’s house, remixing a few new tracks and raiding the fridge for the majority of the afternoon. Adrien made it home in time for dinner, and after a rather bland and unfulfilling meal, Adrien retired to his room to work on homework until night fell and he could safely leave the house.

“You sure about this?” Plagg asked, drifting lazily by Adrien’s shoulder.

The tone was casual, even disinterested, but Adrien knew the little kwami well enough by now to realize that this was his way of expressing concern.

“No, but I think it’s the best solution.” Adrien said. “Unless you have some other information that you think I might need to know? Or would want to know?” He added, knowing that specifying was key. 

“Not really.” Plagg yawned.

Adrien made his way downstairs, careful to avoid anyone who might still be about, and snuck out the kitchen door. Once he was safely concealed in the shadows, he called for Plagg, hoping up to check for pedestrians before taking off.

Going out his window and to the wall was of course the easiest way to leave, but it was also the most visible, so Adrien had a variety of exits he employed. The kitchen door was one, but Adrien found that he was well able to climb the surrounding wall or drop from his balcony, even untransformed.

Bleed-over between the two of them was all Plagg would say, leaving Adrien to wonder if he was going to start craving stinky cheese or sprouting cat ears. Still, after a year without his hair turning black or chasing mice, Adrien had relaxed and accepted that he was mostly just a little stronger and more durable now then he had been.

And, really, when you fell off of a second story balcony and were able to land unharmed and on your feet even without your super suit, that wasn’t something you complained about.

Chat Noir took a circuitous route towards the bakery, using the time to calm his nerves and reassure himself that, yes, he was doing the right thing. Probably.

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding when he saw the light on in Marinette’s room. He alighted on her balcony, carefully to keep out of easy eyesight from people who might be nearby, and, not letting himself hesitate, reached down and rapped on her skylight.

It took a minute or two, but eventually he saw Marinette, hair loose and a pencil behind her ear, peering up at him from the side of her bed with a confused expression. Frowning, she scaled the ladder under the skylight, propping it open and sticking her head out. 

“Chat Noir?” She asked, her brow furrowing in concern. “Are you alright?”

“Everything is fine.” Chat assured her, offering a small smile. “I just have something I need to talk to you about. Do you have a few minutes?”

Marinette chewed her lip nervously, glancing down into her room and then eying the patio behind him before seeming to reach a decision.

“Yeah...come on in.” She replied. Chat reached out, taking hold of the edge of the skylight so she could crawl back in before he entered behind her, carefully closing the skylight and scaling the ladder to avoid putting his undoubtedly dirty boots on her pretty pink bedspread.

Marinette stood awkwardly next to her bed, weight shifting from foot to foot nervously as she regarded him with wide eyes. 

“So, ahhh….what can I help you with?” She asked finally, as the silence stretched between them.

Chat had debated, a lot, about the best or easiest way to say this before deciding that there _was_ no good way. Reaching behind him, he dislodged her (his?) umbrella from where it sat with his baton, holding it out to her silently as her face drained of all color.

“I, ah...wanted to return this to you.” He said into the silence between them. “And thank you for letting me borrow it.”

Marinette took a deep, shuddering breath, backing up and eyeing the extended umbrella as if it were poisonous. Chat reached out a hand, ready to catch her if she fell, but she only reached behind herself, grasping the handrail as if it were a lifeline.

“How…” She licked her lips, eyes flicking between him and the umbrella, “How did you know?”

“That you’re Ladybug?” Chat asked bluntly. As her faint nod, he sighed. “If I tell you, you’ll probably figure out my identity as well.”

Her eyes flicked back to his, and she held his gaze this time. “Are you offering me the choice?”

“I am.” Chat smiled faintly, glad she had cottoned on to what he was offering, but he had already known she was clever. 

“Why?”

“Because finding out was an accident.” Chat said honestly. “You didn’t want me to know, and I’ve always done my best to respect that. However,” Chat frowned thoughtfully, holding the plain black umbrella up to examine it briefly before dropping it on her bed, “events...took that option away. Honestly, it was such a long-shot chance, I have a hard time believing it _was_ chance.”

Marinette’s gaze narrowed thoughtfully, a crease appearing between her brows as she studied him intently. “Are you saying I did something _deliberately?_ ”

“No!” Chat backpedaled, waving his hand to dispel the notion. “Not at all. Truly. Finding out was just _that random._ Like winning the lottery, but you didn’t even buy a ticket, you know?”

Her curiosity was piqued; she was relaxing against the rail, fingers loosening as she tried to work through the puzzle.

In truth, the offer of knowing or not-knowing was an illusion: Chat knew Ladybug - knew _Marinette_ \- too well. Simply knowing that he knew was going to be enough to keep her focused on it, and she _would_ work it out eventually. The offer to tell her or not was simply to allow her the option to work it out and come to terms with it on her own time, rather than being rushed through it _now._

It was a balancing act; offering her the illusion of control without the substance. It felt deceitful...but it also offered her a way to preserve her dignity while she sorted it all out. Because when she figured out that the partner she had repeatedly turned down and occasionally shoved off of rooftops was the boy she had a crush on and turned into a stuttering wreck around, there was every chance she was going to lose it.

He waited thoughtfully while Marinette stared into the space between them and thought. Finally, she looked up, head tilted to the side curiously as she studied him.

When she spoke, the words were slow and deliberate, as if being weighed before let out.

“Why,” she asked, “are you telling me this, if you were just going to offer me a choice? Why not just...keep silent. I’d never have known.”

“Because…” Chat considered. “Because our partnership is about balance. And to keep that balance, we have to be honest...Well, as honest as we can be.” He amended with a shrug. “We have to trust each other. And this knowledge isn’t something trivial, like I saw you yo-yo into a wall and just chose not to tell you: it’s vital to you.”

“And what about you, Kitty?” Marinette asked. “If I choose to not know, how will that make you feel? How will it affect you?”

And _this_ was why Ladybug (Marinette) had his heart. She always took others into account, and despite their teasing and joking and occasional spats, she held him in enough esteem to consider him when making such a decision.

Chat couldn’t help the smile that bloomed, even as his heart stuttered in his chest.

“Don’t worry about me, milady.” He said warmly. “I would like you to know, true, but the choice is yours. I won’t hold it against you if you don’t want the knowledge.”

“Responsibility.” Marinette corrected him gravely. “If I accept this knowledge, I’m responsible for your safety. And your family’s safety, and your friends. Everyone who Hawkmoth will target if he discovers who you are because of me.”

Chat chuckled ruefully. “Then it’s a responsibility that we would share together.”

Marinette’s expression softened into a fond smile. “Because we’re partners.”

“Always.” Chat affirmed, holding a fist out.

“Always.” Marinette’s lips quirked as she reached out, bumping their fists together. “Alright Chat Noir...lay it on me. What tipped you off?”

“Oh, my lady, you’re going to find this hilarious someday.” Chat chuckled, snagging the umbrella off the bed and holding it up, handle facing towards her so the gold AA was eye level, “Because I’ve only ever leant out one umbrella - I remember the occasion very well. And out of every umbrella you might have picked up yesterday, you opted to hand mine back to me.”

Marinette, the part-time superhero who had faced dangers great and small without flinching, hit the ground in a dead faint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm not sure about this one, honestly. It's not really "fluffy"...more like "padded." But I hope you enjoyed it regardless.
> 
> A few things to mention: I personally think Adrien knows about Marinette's crush, and is ignoring it hoping that if he acts like normally, she'll calm down and do the same. 
> 
> Something I didn't really go into detail about was Adrien's reasoning for telling her: First, his priority is keeping things balanced between them. The balance is essential to their partnership working, and he feels that keeping something so important under wraps will upset the balance between them. He's also hoping that this new shift in their relationship will be what pushes her into a more balanced relationship with himself/Chat Noir. Accepting all of him, not just half, and getting to know all of her, not just half, in return. Moving towards a more true partnership, before exploring the idea of making it romantic.
> 
> What I hoped _did_ come across was how much Adrichat genuinely cares for and respects his partner. Strong partnership fics are my _jam_ \- I love them. Honesty, respect, openness and communication are the cornerstones of any good relationship. No relationship is going to work if you don't trust the other person. LB/CN have a good relationship and excellent teamwork, but hopefully this will (after an obligatory period of awkwardness and adjustment) be what settles them into a true and lasting partnership.
> 
> Also, I'm not a fan of walking through another "Marinette freak-out" scene. So she fainted, because I thought it was funny, and I was already 10 pages in, and didn't want to write another five re-hashing everything I'd already said in the previous nine. And because I've got things I still need to get done, and also because I forgot to refill my meds, and trying to focus on any damn thing is like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree.


	30. Iced tea and chocolate pie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 28: I got this for you, but  
> A-team feels! Short and sweet...just like pie.

Occasionally Adrien liked to do nice things for his friends. He’d found that big gestures made them a little uncomfortable (okay, a lot uncomfortable, but why did they make the jokes then?) so he stuck to small things that they could return in kind. 

He was a moderator on the Ladyblog. It had started as a way to help Alya out (she was a one-woman powerhouse, but she was still only _one_ person), and to grow closer to her in his own right, rather than as her quasi-boyfriend’s best bud. It was a pretty easy task, truthfully: he was good with computers, and he could do the work from anywhere he had his tablet and internet, so it was perfect for fittings and shoots where he had sporadic downtime. 

Once in a while, he was in a position to help her out a bit more directly, either by leaning on Chloe to help her get an interview, or by posting pictures as Chat Noir, or occasionally giving interviews _as_ Chat Noir.

In return, Adrien found a staunch ally and a good friend. Alya was as bold as brass with enough self-confidence and gumption to prop both of them up, if needed. His father had once called her “an annoying little upstart who didn’t know her place or respect her betters.” Before he could get to the “get out and never return” portion of his speech, Alya had cut him off with a feral grin as she asked him to remind them how he had gotten his start, and to tell them that he should be grateful that his son had people in his corner who weren’t easily intimidated and wanted his happiness. 

There’d been some nasty glares, and Gabriel Agreste would never be a fan of Alya, but he also never managed to get to the “get out and never return” part of his speech, either.

Alya and Marinette would occasionally show up to shoots (if they were local and public) and loiter around to chat between takes, bring him a drink, or even just to give him a copy of any class notes he’d missed. So long as they were not underfoot and didn’t distract him, the crew weren’t bothered by their presence.

One quiet evening, when Adrien was strolling down the road and a convenience store caught his eye, he stopped. He was already heading to Alya’s - an akuma attack earlier that day had nixed patrol, and there was footage to edit - so it wasn’t any trouble to stop in when he remembered that this particular store sold an iced tea that she liked.

It was far too sweet for Adrien’s tastes - some kind of fruity concoction in a giant can that could double as a small bucket and had _way_ too much sugar - but Alya loved it. As a bonus, they were on sale, so he grabbed two and patted himself on the back for being a good person as he stood on the front porch.

Her sister let him in, and Adrien was cheerfully whistling as he nudged her bedroom door open and wandered through.

“Hey, Adrien!” She grinned at him brightly as she swiveled in her chair. “How goes it?”

“It goes.” Adrien said setting the can on the corner of her desk as he shrugged out of his backpack. “I got you a-”

He paused, eyebrows furrowing as he spied an identical can cracked open and sitting by her elbow on the other side of the desk.

“Oh, my favorite!” Alya grinned up at him. “Thanks!”

“Oh, well… I got this for you, but-” Adrien gestured at the can on the other side of the desk. “I guess you already have one.”

“So?” Alya smirked. “That means I have one for _tomorrow_ too.”

“Actually…” Adrien held up the small bag with the second one inside. Alya burst out laughing.

“Wow, Agreste.” She teased. “You really know how to spoil a girl. Are you trying to give me cavities, or watch me hit the ceiling in class, or are you just being extra?” 

“It was less than five euros, Alya.” Adrien grumbled. “I don’t think that counts as ‘extra.’”

“Anytime you go overboard, it’s gonna be extra.” Alya said with a decisive nod. 

“Right.” Adrien rolled his eyes. “Well, they were on sale, so no, not extra, just cheap.”

“You’re losing your touch, Agreste.” Alya said, shaking her head as she sighed. “Well, tell you what - we have some unsweetened tea in the fridge. How about we water this can down, and you can help me drink it?”

“So, like a tablespoon of that per cup of tea?” Adrien teased.

“God, no, more than that. Freak.” Alya made a face. “Just go get a cup so we can share this. Then get your model butt back here and I’ll show you the _awesome_ footage that I got of today’s fight!”

Chuckling, Adrien left the room and wandered towards the kitchen. He’d been in his friend’s house often enough to know where most things were, so he had no problem finding a cup. Opening the fridge, he glanced in, and blinked in surprise. 

There, sitting on the shelf, was a jar of unsweetened tea and a plate of chocolate pie that he recognized from the restaurant that Alya’s mom worked at. Atop it was a note that read _Back off! For Alya and Adrien ONLY!_

Adrien liked doing nice things for his friends. And he was always grateful that his friends liked doing nice things for him, too.


	31. Unmasked (Wrong number, right decision)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt 29: I do  
> Prompt 30: Unmasked
> 
> Continuation of Chapter 26 (Wrong Number)

It was Friday. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Marinette had (probably...most likely… yeah, definitely) bombed her chemistry test.

Marinette blamed the akuma. No, she blamed _Hawkmoth._ What kind of asshat akumatizes some poor construction worker at two in the morning? The poor man had been working on a road crew and had nearly been hit by a driver who hadn’t been paying attention, despite the floodlights that had illuminated the construction zone. Hawkmoth (who apparently didn’t think sleep was important), had leapt on his upset at nearly dying and had offered the man revenge on all motorists if he would just give him Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous. 

Marinette had gotten the call on her handy dandy phone, and had spent the next few hours dodging manhole covers and avoiding flying rebar. She’d crawled back into her room with just enough time left for a quick hour’s nap...and had overslept. 

Worse, Chemistry was her first class of the day, so she hadn’t even had time to cram or pester anybody for help before the exam! As it was, she’d skidded into the door late (literally, into the door, embarrassing _thud!_ and all), had to apologize to the teacher and had gotten detention before even sitting down. 

It was only a small consolation that Adrien had looked as exhausted as she was. It was...kind of nice, knowing that she wasn’t alone in this, even if he hadn’t figured out who she was yet.

Chat Noir hadn’t found his Ladybug, even after almost five days and having permission. He’d spent the last patrol trying to tease information out of her, and today he’d offered to walk her home after the akuma attack. (It was a testament to how tired Marinette was that she very nearly said yes.)

She’d decided the safest way to get through lunch was to stay at her desk. Alya, Nino and Adrien had elected to go to a nearby cafe, and Alya had promised to bring her back something. Marinette had handed her ten euros, told her to keep the change, and spent the next hour with her head pillowed on her arms.

“Mari.”

“Mm.” Was her articulate response as she tried to use her biceps to block out the annoying voice.

“Mari.”

“Ng.” She protested, pressing her forehead against the desk in a futile effort to get away from the noise.

“Mari _nette!_ ” Alya’s voice was growing more irritated as she started shaking her friend’s shoulder. “Dammit girl, we came back early so you’d have time to eat, so don’t waste it by being stubborn!”

While Marinette could probably argue that eating was overrated in the face of sleep, she couldn’t argue that sleeping was overrated in the face of an annoyed Alya. Groaning, Marinette pulled her head out of her arms, squinting blearily at the face in front of her.

Only it wasn’t Alya, it was _Adrien._

“Ahh!” Marinette drew back, eyes blown wide in shock at the unexpected person she’d been presented with.

Adrien only blinked, eyebrow cocked in apparent amusement as he leaned back against his desk. Sipping on his coffee, he offered her a smirk.

He hadn’t even been in her space. Marinette offered the smug, self-satisfied little jerk a half-hearted glare as somebody next to her sniggered. Pursing her lips, Marinette turned her head to find Alya waving half a sandwich in her face tauntingly.

“Thanks, A. You’re a lifesaver.” Marinette took a bite, sighing happily as the food helped revive her a bit further, only to blink in surprise as a cup was set down next to it.

“I’d be careful of that.” Nino offered from next to Adrien. “Dude had them put a _quad shot_ on top of coffee, and then add syrup.”

Marinette wanted to cry, honestly. “That’s _perfect._ How much do I owe you, Nino?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Adrien grinned. “You looked like you needed it.”

“I-” Marinette faltered, gaze swinging back to the boy at Nino’s side. Adrien raised his own cup at her, offering her a smile. “Ah- Ad, Adrien. Well, thank you. How much do I owe _you_ then?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Adrien repeated patiently. “Besides - you don’t have any change left.”

Marinette eyeballed the logo on the cup - gourmet coffee with a quad shot of espresso added? _And_ a sandwich from Alya’s favorite cafe?

“I’m pretty sure ten euros didn’t cover this.” She argued, but raised the cup to her lips. Cinnamon, nutmeg, hints of chocolate and a splash of hazelnut, all packed into liquid salvation-slash-rocket fuel. Marinette closed her eyes in bliss as she savored the flavors and nearly melted into a pile of happy goo on the spot. 

“I think I can afford the extra two euros.” Adrien sounded way too amused for her current frame of mind, but Marinette couldn’t bring herself to be annoyed with someone who brought her the equivalent of four hour’s sleep in a cup.

The caffeine hit full potency about ten minutes after class started, and despite being almost _jittery_ Marinette took excellent notes. She was wide-awake and grinning for the rest of the day.

“Is that stuff really that good?” Alya asked, amused, as they sat on the bench in the courtyard after school.

“It is. It’s amazing.” Marinette smiled. “Like...I’m going to marry that coffee.”

Alay snorted. “I thought you wanted to marry Adrien?”

Marinette paused to consider. True - she’d been pining after Adrien for a long time, and even if she could now speak to him, they still weren’t very close. The knowledge that her long-time crush was her best friend/crime-fighting partner had thrown her for more of a loop than she cared to admit. Chat Noir acted so differently than Adrien Agreste! She had thought she knew Adrien, the same as she thought she knew Chat - turns out, she may not know either one of them as well as she’d thought.

But Alya didn’t know anything that Marinette thought, so Marinette forced herself to giggle.

“How about I’ll marry the guy that will consistently bring me that coffee?” She grinned as she straightened her shirt, adjusting the straps on her backpack and gently patting the purse where Tikki was safely nestled at her side.

“Really?” Spoke up an amused voice behind them. Aya and Marinette both turned to see Nino walking up behind them, Adrien trailing after. “That’s a powerful love of coffee.”

“What now?” Adrien looked up from his book bag as he stopped next to Nino. “Hey girls.”

“Marinette is looking for a barista husband.” Nino grinned. “Apparently your coffee had a hell of a kick.”

Alya snorted. “It you’re going to repeat things, Nino, get your quote right. Marinette didn’t say she wanted to marry a barista.”

“Oh yeah?” Nino’s eyebrow quirked up. “Okay, quote for me Ladyblogger.”

“Marinette _said_ she would marry the guy that would consistently bring her that coffee.” Alya waved her finger under Nino’s nose teasingly. “Doesn’t have to be a barista.”

Nino snorted in amusement, and Adrien chuckled, slinging his bag over his shoulder and heading towards the waiting car. “I’ll be sure to remember that, then.” He called over his shoulder as he waved.

Nino blinked. Marinette gaped, her mouth dropping open in shock. Alya’s eyebrows crawled up her hairline...and then she burst out laughing.

“Did he just-?” Marinette asked faintly, gesturing as the car Adrien had entered slid smoothly away from the curb.

“I think he did!” Alya nodded enthusiastically as she grinned.

Nino whistled lowly. “About time.”

 

“Is your name Cynthia?”

“No.”

“Lenora?”

“Maybe.”

“Do you have red hair?”

“Yes.”

“Last night you said your hair was brown.” Chat squinted at her suspiciously. 

“Did I?” Ladybug pretended to ponder that. “Oh, well, maybe it is.”

“Where do you live?”

“In a house.”

“Do you have any pets?”

“Aside from you?”

“Meowch, my lady! Then again…” Chat leaned over and head butted her shoulder gently. “Pet me?”

“This is not very dignified of you.” Ladybug pointed out, even as she reached up to card her fingers through his hair. Who knew how much longer he would allow her to do this? When he found out…

“We've never been about dignity.” Chat rebutted.

Ladybug giggled and made a cooing noise as she exaggeratedly scratched his faux cat ears. “Who's a good kitty?”

“I am.” She could feel him grinning against her clavicle. “Do I get a reward?”

“What do you want?” Ladybug asked, already thinking of another goofy answer to whatever question he wanted to ask.

“You to marry me.”

Ladybug’s fingers stilled as she blinked in shock, before snorting softly in amusement. “You don't even know my name, and you're proposing marriage? Fickle.”

“Aren’t models all supposed to be shallow and fickle?”

“And trust fund babies.” Ladybug quipped. “Oh, wait…”

“Ha ha.” Chat nudged her shoulder with his nose. “Besides, you’ll have to sign the marriage certificate.”

“Ahh, I’m onto you.” Ladybug nodded sagely. “What if I just signed it as Ladybug Agreste?”

“Sneaky.” Chat leaned back and scowled at her from his superior height.

“I’m smart like that.” Ladybug said wryly. “And it’s time to head in.”

“It’s not that late.” Chat argued.

“But it’s Sunday night.” Ladybug shook her head. “You’ve got school in the morning.”

“Are you saying you don’t?” Chat grinned at her widely.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” Ladybug shrugged.

“I’ll get you yet.” Chat wagged his finger in her face.

“Well, you’ve been at it for a few days now.” Ladybug grinned. “Tick-tock, kitten.”

 

She should have known that there would be another akuma. At least she didn’t have a test this time.

Still, the cafe worker who’d had to deal with a loud, rowdy group just before closing hadn’t been easy. Not on the same level as Timebreaker (who would erase people entirely), but he did have the ability to relocate people. So Ladybug and Chat had spent far more time than necessary on the akuma, because they’d been randomly teleported to different spots whenever Get Out had landed a hit. 

Marinette hadn’t even bothered to try for a nap, instead arriving to school early and parking on a bench outside, trusting that Alya would drag her inside for class - even if she wasn’t awake to appreciate it. 

Alya found her on the bench, and managed to drag her inside. Marinette was slumped over her desk, eyes glazed over and only half-awake when Adrien stumbled in, Nino following behind. The only reason she noticed was first, because she _always_ noticed Adrien and second, because Alya called attention to them with a cheery “Good morning!”

She didn’t really pay much attention beyond that, instead digging around for the stylus for her tablet and wondering if maybe she had a spare when a coffee cup appeared in front of her nose.

Marinette blinked at the fancy logo on the side, right at her eye level. Familiar fingers were wrapped around the cup, and Marinette blinked up as Adrien smiled down at her.

“For you, milady.” He offered her a cheeky wink that was too reminiscent of Chat to be comfortable.

Had he finally figured it out? Marinette gave the thought a half-second of consideration before Alya’s giggle interrupted her (admittedly disjointed) musings.

“Why, Monsieur Agreste, what are you insinuating?” Alya teased, tapping her finger against her lower lip with a sly smile.

Adrien’s eyebrow quirked up. “That...it’s Monday? And we’re all tired?”

“Mmhm.” Alya swirled her own coffee cup around as she offered the other boy a smile. “And this has nothing to do with Friday.”

“Well, I brought each of us a coffee.” Adrien pointed out. “So...what are you insinuating? That I’m propositioning Nino?”

“Oh my.” Alya murmured in amusement. “Are you?”

“Yes.” Adrien nodded solemnly as he raised his cup to his own lips. “He’s dead sexy.”

Nino choked and Alya sniggered, and the teacher entered the class before anything else could be said. Adrien turned around to sit down, but paused when Marinette spoke up.

“Adrien!” He turned to quirked his eyebrow at her. “Thank you.”

He laughed softly. “You’re welcome, but...you haven’t even tried it yet.”

“Fair point.” Marinette shrugged. “But still. You thought of me - us - and I appreciate it.”

Adrien’s gaze softened. “You’re welcome.”

Marinette turned, flipping open her textbook to the indicated page and opened her notes app and picked up her stylus. Sighing, she raised the cup to her lips…

And choked.

There, written on top of the cup in Adrien’s careful, neat penmanship was a message: _Found you._

 

“You brat!” Marinette hissed as soon as the teacher called for a break. Normally, she wouldn’t be able to say something so rude to Adrien...but it got a lot easier when she realized her near-perfect teen idol was a pun-loving, trash-talking superhero who wore fake cat ears.

Kind of hard to be intimidated by that point, really.

“Moi?” Adrien turned in his seat, blinking innocently up at her. “Whatever do you mean?”

“You know darn well, you- You-!” Marinette couldn’t think of anything incriminating to call him that wouldn’t tip off the extra ears listening in, so she settled for shaking her finger at him expressively.

Adrien clucked his tongue in mock-disappointment. “I bring you coffee and you scold me? I’m hurt. I’m going to cry myself to sleep tonight.”

“I could make you cry right now instead.” Marinette offered archly.

“Hmm.” Adrien slid a glance towards Nino and Alya, who didn’t even have the grace to _pretend_ to not be listening in. “Maybe later. Right now, I believe you need to pay up.”

“Pay up?” Marinette glanced at their audience. “Right _now?_ ”

Adrien regarded her evenly. “Yes. I solved the riddle. I get the reward.”

“What are you talking about?” Nino asked, turning around fully and giving his friend a confused glance. 

“Marinette and I made a bet about a week ago.” Adrien replied, eyes never leaving Marinette’s as he grinned in evident self-satisfaction. “I won the bet.”

“And you want to do that here? Really?” Marinette threw up her hands in exasperation.

“Do what?” Alya asked, eyes narrowing. “Why haven’t I heard about this bet?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Adrien crossed his arms smugly. “You’re the one who brought it up now - you could easily have waited until later.”

Marinette’s mouth dropped open before snapping shut. He was _right,_ damn him. Despite seeing the message on her coffee, she could easily have waited until later. And he knew it, so why call her out on losing the bet here? Now? In front of the whole class? 

If she kissed him here, it would be all over the school before the end of the day - he’d never escape it. He cold easily have told her later - he’d known that the message atop the coffee lid would be a goad. _He’d counted on it._

“You…” Marinette blinked as the realization sunk in. She sat back in her seat, surprise draining the tension from her face. “You did that on purpose. Why?”

Adrien’s head cocked to the side, curious at her hesitant confusion. Frowning, he reached out and tapped a finger against the side of the coffee cup. When he spoke, he sounded vaguely amused. “You’ll figure it out someday.”

“And you really want me to pay up? Right now?” Marinette’s lips pursed.

“I’ve been waiting for over a year, _Marinette._ ” Adrien stood up, leaning over her desk. “And a lot longer besides. You started this - finish it.”

“What are you two talking about?” Alya demanded.

“Marinette,” Adrien drawled, lips quirking and eyes filled with such lazy, languid amusement that Marinette flushed, “made a bet with me. _What_ the bet was, doesn’t matter - it was between us, Alya.” Adrien broke off to shoot Alya a look. “But if I could answer her question within two weeks, she said she would kiss me.”

Alya’s eyebrows shot up.

“I didn’t think he’d do it!” Marinette defended herself without ever taking her eyes off Chat...Adrien’s. 

“Clearly.” Adrien grinned.

“I kind of think that this is the bet you’d _want_ to lose.” Nino offered, gaze bouncing back and forth between the two. “I mean, really.”

Adrien leaned in closer, a disgusting, self-satisfied, entirely too _Chat-like_ smirk playing at the edge of his lips. “Did you want to lose, Marinette? Because I really, _really_ wanted to win.”

And with that, he leaned forward and captured her lips with his own.

 

“Coffee?” Ladybug accepted the cup Chat handed her in confusion. “Isn’t it a little late for that?”

“Tea, actually, this time.” Chat responded, sitting down next to her and sipping from his own cup. “I thought a little something soothing would be nice.”

“You sure do like over-priced drinks.” Ladybug commented, sipping her steaming tea and sighing happily. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“Oh, I can take them or leave them.” Chat mused. “But you seem to like them, so…”

Ladybug smiled. “You’re sweet. Thank you.”

“My pleasure, my lady.” Chat saluted her with his cup, and the two sat in silence for a while while they enjoyed their drinks.

“So, how did you figure me out?” Ladybug asked eventually, kicking her legs out over the balcony and into empty air.

“Oh, it wasn’t hard.” Chat shrugged. “Plagg and I had a little ‘Q and A’ session about what Miraculous could and couldn’t do, physically, but really, I just made a list of everyone I know with black hair and blue eyes. Easy-peasy.”

Marinette’s brow furrowed. “Wait...that was it? How many black-haired blue-eyed people do you know?”

“Only five.” Chat replied. “Four of them are models, and two of them aren’t even in the country.”

“So...wait.” Marinette held up her hand. “How long did it take you to figure out who I was?”

“Um, like ten minutes?” Chat raised his eyebrow at her  curiously. “I mean, I’m not dumb - I’d just never tried before because I respected your right to privacy.”

Marinette’s jaw dropped. “Just- Just like that?” She asked faintly, before her eyes narrowed. “Then why the heck did you spend a week bugging me for answers about every stupid thing under the sun?”

“Because I thought your answers were funny.” Chat grinned at her. “And because I wanted to hang back and observe Marinette, to see how she felt about Adrien Agreste.”

Marinette snorted. “Because _that_ wasn’t obvious.”

“Not as obvious as you’d think.” Chat murmured. “I’m used to rabid fan girls swarming me, not sweet little classmates who blush and stammer. I didn’t even really get it until...well, let’s just say ‘not long ago’ and leave it at that.”

Marinette said nothing and sipped her tea.

“And…” Chat paused and took a breath. “I wanted to make sure that Marinette could like Adrien as much as Chat liked Ladybug. It wouldn’t be...right, to claim my prize otherwise.”

Marinette paused, cup halfway to her lips as things started clicking into place. “Are...are you saying you _like_ me? Like-like me?”

“I _have_ spent our entire acquaintance asking you out, you know.” Chat slid her a glance out of the corner of his eyes. “Making of fool of myself for your attention. Are you telling me you never guessed?”

“I...thought you were just being silly.” Ladybug flushed. “I mean, I guess I thought you had a crush on me, but I guess that’s all I really thought it was. You know, just a teenage boy reacting to a girl in a skintight suit, who is continually put in close quarters without regards for personal boundaries due to the nature of the job.”

“So you thought my reaction was…” Chat frowned, “entirely physical?”

“Not entirely.” Ladybug shifted uneasily. “Just, kind of an off-shot. You know, lust, love, infatuation… I never thought that you weren’t my friend, though.” She assured him. “I just figured the flirting was a class clown doing his thing.”

“Boy were you wrong.” Chat mumbled into his cup.

“A little. So, then, what was with the thing today in class?” Ladybug reached out and poked her sulking partner. “Oh, don’t be like that!”

“Sorry, I’m going to need to pout for a while.” Chat grumbled, pushing her hand away. “I mean, I spent more than a _year_ desperately trying to woo you, and you thought… _gah!_ ”

“Pout later.” Ladybug scooted closer and nudged him with her shoulder. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

Chat grumbled unintelligibly. 

“I’m sorry, what?” Ladybug leaned forward to peer up at his face. “I didn’t understand you.”

“I said ‘I want my tea back.’” Chat repeated.

“Um...kind of already drank it.” Ladybug shook the empty cup for emphasis. “I can replace it? I’ll bring some to the next patrol.”

“Hmph.”

“But, hey.” Ladybug elbowed him. “You never did say what was up with that stunt you pulled in class. Why did you do that? The whole school is buzzing - they’re going to think we’re dating or something.”

Chat snorted. “That was the point.”

Ladybug blinked. “What?”

“That was the point.” Chat repeated, setting his cup down slowly. “I _told you:_ I have been waiting for more than a year to know your name. I _love you._ And now that I know who you are, I wanted to know if you could care for me in the same way. All of me.”

“So you forced a kiss...in school.” Ladybug murmured, shocked. “You...what? _Claimed_ me?”

Chat watched her silently, green eyes half-lidded and glittering in the low light. 

“You had mentioned a crush before.” He said quietly. “I was trying to figure out who it was, and how serious.” His lips quirked. “Imagine my surprise.”

“You silly cat.” Ladybug murmured breathlessly, torn between giddiness and upset. “You ridiculous tom.”

“You love it.” Chat’s lips quirked. “You love _me._ ”

Ladybug’s eyes slanted towards him mischievously. “Maybe. Doesn’t mean you’re not ridiculous.”

“I’m not the one who announced that she would marry the person who consistently brought her gourmet coffee.” Chat’s lips quirked. “Now _that’s_ ridiculous.”

Ladybug’s mouth formed an O of astonishment as she glanced at the cup in her hand. “You-!”

“And,” Chat cut her off, leaning forward and smirking evilly. “You still need to pay up.”

“Pay up? Pay what?” Ladybug blinked in confusion. “You got your kiss, and apparently staked your claim while you were at it. What more do you want?”

“I got _a_ kiss.” Chat raised one clawed hand to wave a single digit in the air tellingly. “But I do believe, Mademoiselle Ladybug, that the terms of our bet were that if I discovered your identity within two weeks, _you_ would kiss _me._ Today, I kissed you.” 

Ladybug blinked, eyebrows creeping upwards before she dissolved into laughter. “You…you… _alley cat!_ You engineered the whole thing! I can’t believe you. Do you really still want that kiss?”

“I do.” Chat sat perfectly still, but his eyes never strayed from her face. “That one, and a thousand more.”

He sat still, and continued to remain still, as Ladybug leaned forward and her heart somersaulted in her chest. 

Today, in class, he had come to her - and she understood that now it was _her_ turn to come to him. Sitting next to each other as they were, half-turned to face one another to speak, meeting him wasn’t overly difficult - a little unsteady maybe, since they were perched on a beam alarmingly high in the air. But they’d fought, and won, in more precarious positions before, and would no doubt do so again.

Their position wasn’t particularly intimate. There was no room for passionate embraces when you were stuck trying to compromise between balancing and touching. Still, the shared body heat as her hip touched his thigh and her shoulder rubbed his chest was enough. The warmth of his breath as it ghosted over her lips was electric, and he bent down enough to help close the gap that their height difference left between them. Still he paused, lips hovering over hers as he waited for her to close the distance between them.

His eyes slid closed as she did, relishing her nearness and the pressure of her lips as Paris lay illuminated and glittering at their feet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get out - this is actually my _third_ rewrite of this! I was not happy with the first two, so they got scrapped. And clocking in at 12.5 pages of 10pt font, I hope that you think it was worth the wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Headcannon says that there’s bleed over between the suit and the person wearing it, to some degree. (Headcannon also says it’s a defense mechanism, meant to help keep their wielders alive, because it doesn’t seem like Miraculous holders are chosen because everything is great and kwami are bored. And if shit is going down, the wielders are going to be hunted, and may not always have a kwami around/able to help.) 
> 
> Even if there aren’t any shared abilities, and the kwami are the one controlling their physical capabilities as superheros, the person who’s wearing the suit still has to go through the motions, and be the one doing the running, jumping, climbing, throwing, etc. Doing all that physical activity is going to have physical effects, even if they aren’t automatically parkour champs when not wearing magic spandex.  
> 
> Also, I just wanted to write something where Mari shocks the hell out of everyone, while still being little and cute. And set the stage for Nino to have to wear makeup.


End file.
